Change
by MugetsuFTW
Summary: A little change in the beginning of his life made all the difference. Whether it's fighting a crazy Chūnin, discovering that he has a massive ball of chakra and hatred stuck inside him by his idol and trying to change the villagers, Naruto is gonna do it with style. Like a real shinobi. And if he manages to charm the hearts of a few kunoichi along the way, then that's just a bonus.
1. A Friend

Authors Note: Helloooo! (Zetsu voice) So this is it, 16 pages... the most I've ever written. Anyways this is my first attempt and I think it went well all things considering (I'm not gonna say that I'm an expert at writing or anything) however some of the stories that I've seen on the website... (Facepalm) Some are just _awesome _but some are ridiculous, either because of the plot (most of the time) characters _so _OOC that it's ridiculous, (goes hand in hand with bad plots) OCs (don't even get me started on those Mary Sue's...) and last but not least the absolutely _amazing _(KSI voice) (If you don't know who he is then check him out on YouTube, he's _so funny._) Grammar and Spelling. Now I'm not English (Brazilian) but _come on _some of the mistakes are just _painful _to look at. It's even worse when they misspell names and places of the Story. I will endeavor to not fall to the dark side (not racist _at all) _of fanfiction i.e. all of those above and I hope that you will aid me in my quest.

Uhm... anyways!

Lets get started I guess... Oh right! I need to do a disclaimer huh... Well this is how it goes:

Disclaimer: No I don't own Naruto. I know - It _sucks balls. _But it's the truth. So please don't sue me. (Not that you would get much)

Well... I think everything is in order... So welcome to Change - Chapter 1 - A friend.

(You'll find out soon enough why it's called that...)

* * *

Oh for fuck's sake…

How had this happened again? Oh yeah. He was just having a late night training session. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact it was something that Iruka-sensei would actually encourage, although reluctantly because everyone needed to rest and have a good night's sleep and tomorrow was the exam.

It wasn't even _that _late, the sun had gone down a few hours ago and if he had to guess it would be like… nine… something? Everything had been going so well too. He had finally perfected that technique and he was just resting peacefully on a tree branch, drinking water from his canteen and staring at the beautiful full moon. Nothing wrong with that. Sure, others might find it strange that a thirteen year old was out this late but it was still perfectly acceptable and fine.

Who was he kidding? Of course things couldn't stay so peaceful or right for so long. After all he _was _Uzumaki Naruto, even if he tried his best to stay away from trouble and not cause any it still _always_ found him_ no matter what_. Normally he would just shake his head in a strange sort of amazement at how things could turn out, even if he had no say _whatsoever_ and it had absolutely nothing to do with him, however this just took the cake.

'_And this bastard might just take my head!' _Naruto ducked swiftly and jumped back as far as he could, throwing shuriken in a spread pattern meant to make his opponent back off. Thankfully it seemed to work and as he gripped a kunai in each hand he tried to get his breath back, his eyes never leaving the _enemy_.

Truthfully he was still a bit confused, however it all came down to this single fact: Mizuki was trying to kill him, he had no idea why, but that didn't matter. He was _not _about to be killed, especially since his graduation exam was tomorrow, not after everything he had done, not after all the effort , the time, the sweat, blood and in some cases even tears that he had shed, because it was all in order to make his dream come true.

He wasn't about to let Mizuki ruin it all because he wanted a live practice dummy. Fuck that. As if he could die _now_. There was no way that was gonna happen, which was exactly why he was fighting back. It didn't matter that this person had spent the last five years being his instructor; right now he was trying to spend Naruto's last minutes making him dodge Fuuma shuriken all over the fucking forest.

'Damn it! I need to think up a plan. Well… if things aren't going good then that just means you aren't using enough explosives right?' Truly, he would be forever grateful to that piece of advice. It was time to make a comeback, Mizuki was gonna regret fucking with him. He smirked before throwing a smoke bomb down and immediately turned and ran deeper into the forest. Normally he would keep a neutral expression in fights, but it was all a part of the plan.

Mizuki was clearly overconfident and Naruto was gonna make sure that it would be his downfall. By goading him and leading him on a chase, making Mizuki frustrated that he couldn't catch an Academy student, he would be more liable to making mistakes, which was exactly what he wanted. It wasn't that this was the only way to fight him, no; it was the smart way. Who knew what else he could have besides those Fuuma shuriken that he was so fond of? He would tire him out and then take him out.

Naruto hid behind some bushes and branches, up in the canopy, and tried his best to hide his presence. Mizuki was a Chūnin sure but he was number one in stealth in the academy. Too bad for Mizuki that he was also number one in trap making in the academy. He glanced around to make sure that everything was in place, and a kunai slid into his right hand from his long sleeved blue shirt. Putting it into a grip more fit for throwing Naruto waited until he heard Mizuki's voice.

"Come out Naruto-kun! This is only a _friendly _spar after all, there's no need to be afraid." He smoothly ignored the taunt and then when Mizuki was in range, sprang into action. He chucked the kunai in his hand, however it seemed to have missed Mizuki, but before the man could make a, no doubt, derisive comment a faint snapping sound was heard and Mizuki had to jump to the left to dodge the barrage of kunai, with exploding tags.

Naruto was already moving as soon as he threw the kunai and ignored the explosions below him as he sprung the next step. Mizuki had dodged to the left, where there was a big tree, and to protect him from the blast he had predictably hid around the tree but that was exactly what he wanted. Because of the explosions he wouldn't have heard it, the faint sizzling sound before the exploding tags that had been stuck above his head, on the tree, went off causing a good, decent explosion.

A few trees away Naruto crouched down and slowly did the seals, carefully moulding his chakra, he couldn't afford to screw up now, before he took out a few shuriken. He spun them around his finger and then blew on them and the wind from his mouth seemed to surround the already spinning shuriken, making them widespread lethal fan blades. It was a good thing that the now enhanced wind shuriken did not make much noise.

'Fūton: Shinkūjin!' He had only perfected it but he knew that he was going to be using this technique a _lot_. Standing on a tree a few yards away Naruto watched the smoke carefully. He knew that wasn't enough to take Mizuki out – the man _was_ a Chūnin – which was exactly why Naruto was already making his new move. He didn't plan on giving Mizuki an inch.

From the smoke a slightly charred Mizuki flew out and Naruto struck. Giving the spinning shuriken a last spin he flicked them in his direction. But Mizuki was a Chūnin and he took the Fuuma shuriken off his back and with a flick of the wrist he sent it to combat the shuriken.

However this was done in desperation and instinct so he didn't even register the fact that the spinning shuriken (the one Naruto threw) was coated with Wind chakra which could cut solid rock. Had he known he would have probably ducked or dodged. Naruto watched with satisfaction as his shuriken grinded in to the Fuuma shuriken and then cut it in half before dutifully flying towards Mizuki.

'What the fuck-!'Mizuki barely had time to question as he hit the deck let the flying shuriken go past him and glanced back to see that it had cut half way into a tree. He shot a wide-eyed look at Naruto.

'How the hell did he do that?' Academy students weren't supposed to be throwing shurikens around which could cut his own Fuuma shuriken _and _half way into one of Konoha's trees. Then he sneered, it didn't matter – he had already wasted too much time here. The _brat _had put up a much better fight then expected but…

'It's about time I finish this. But I won't use _that_ just yet…_ ' _Mizuki said to himself. He looked around at the trees warily, this kid was good at ambushes and he wasn't about to let himself get almost done in like last time. Time to draw him out.

* * *

On another part of Konoha…

The Hokage paid the panicky rookie Chūnin no mind as they rushed around him, in the meeting room of the Hokage tower, trying to find their fellow Chūnin. The bastard had broken in to his own home and when he had gotten almost caught had used his grandson as a hostage. _His_ _grandson_.

Mizuki was gonna pay, _dearly. _Thinking of his grandson a blonde grinning academy student popped up in mind, Naruto had sure grown up differently than he had expected, he had to give credit to the kid as well as a certain Jōnin, instead of Naruto being one of those kind of kids who just spouted big talk and didn't do anything Naruto talked big and ranked even higher.

The kid was number on in the academy at almost everything. That was one thing that you couldn't dismiss about Uzumaki Naruto, even if you didn't like him, it was that he was an absolute monster (for his age and in this age of _peace_) at the ninja arts. Even though he was in the class where all of the clan heirs were, he was still ranked number one. You could argue that he had help from a Jōnin but so did everyone else. Being a clan heir meant that your father/mother was the clan head, and all of the clan heads that were around were exceptional shinobi. While Naruto had help from a Jōnin, they had help from clan heads, some of his best ninja, but Naruto still didn't lose to them.

You could almost call him a model student; he just excelled at almost everything. Last he checked the only thing someone beat him on was academy theory, a Haruno Sakura, and even then he was second place. That girl just must have had brains the size of the Hokage Tower because she was absolutely amazing in theory. Some people called him a 'Genius' or even 'Prodigy' (some academy teachers did) but he and the specific Jōnin knew the truth; Naruto was just stubborn, determined and had shitloads of stamina. These three facts along with his dream made him almost unstoppable when it came to learning new things.

However... he hoped Naruto wasn't in trouble. Then he took that thought one step further i.e. Naruto was _always _in trouble. Most of the time it honestly wasn't his fault, the kid was just unlucky really. Really unlucky because he got himself caught in the most ridiculous (and dangerous) situations without meaning to. Kakashi glanced up from his book and paused at the deadpan look on the Hokage's face.

Then his hand came up and activated the mysterious jutsu that could let him look through the crystal ball and watch over Konoha. He put his book down as he watched the Hokage find a blonde and he felt some of the other Jōnin that were in the room concentrate on the Hokage. He was perhaps the wisest man in the village; there was no way that he would do something without there being a good reason. And a good reason it was as even the Chūnin stopped to watch a peculiar scene unfold in front of them.

The blonde boy, who most people immediately recognized as the village's Jinchūriki, was seen crouching behind some shrubs as he flicked a kunai and immediately jumped away from his (apparent) hiding spot. Was he in a fight?

And then Kakashi reached the same apparent conclusion that the Hokage had… If Naruto was in a fight, and using kunai, then there was a chance that… His train of thought was interrupted as the kunai struck the ground beside his target; Mizuki. Then a snapping sound was heard and a shower of kunai was launched _'A trap huh…' _Kakashi thought interestingly, the kid wasn't aiming at Mizuki at all, it was a _fake shot _to get him. The kunai which had been launched from the trap struck the ground as Mizuki jumped away and then he hid around the tree (when they exploded) which was behind him, only for the next stage of Naruto's plan come into motion and the tree exploded.

'Clever… it was a two stage attack – he 'missed' with the kunai and sprung a trap, forcing Mizuki into the next stage of his attack. Most Genin would have probably not survived that, but Mizuki is a Chūnin, one that stole 'that' scroll…' Was the thought that ran through most of the shinobi present however any other thoughts were destroyed when they saw him do hand signs and blow into a shuriken surrounding it in Wind and then throwing it at Mizuki. Any other thoughts that could've have been formed were also destroyed when said shuriken _tore through _Mizuki's Fuuma shuriken and almost took his head off before lodging itself half way into a tree.

Genma summed up everyone's thoughts in the matter with a, "What the fuck…?" but it wasn't over. Far from it. Mizuki finally decided to stop playing around and everyone's stomach began to drop when they heard what he said next.

* * *

Forest – Mizuki vs. Naruto

"Come out Naruto-kun! We have _so much _to discuss… Oh! I know! How about I tell you a story hmm? You better listen _carefully!_" Naruto grimaced at the _sweet _tone of voice. Even if he wasn't trying to kill him he would still have his guard up just out of principle, that tone of voice on Mizuki just wasn't _right_.

"It's about you, you know…? There's this law that was created 13 years ago. But you don't know anything about that hmm? Of course you don't – it was never meant to be told to _you_!" Mizuki then burst into a laughing fit.

"Hahaha! Would you like to know? The law that everyone kept from you, the secrets that no one ever shed light on, the _whole _truth? I'll tell you…"

"Thirteen years ago, when you were born, October 10th, what happened hmm Naruto-kun? What happened on your birthday?"

Of course Naruto knew what had happened. How could he not? Everyone did; on his birthday the Kyūbi, a _massive_ fox made out of pure chakra attacked the village. Somehow the Yondaime Hokage defeated the fox and saved the village. Naruto wasn't stupid - this law, the difficulties he had encountered, his massive chakra supply… Suddenly he felt his stomach plummet. Whatever Mizuki had to say… he felt like he shouldn't hear and yet at the same time… he _had _to hear this.

"Well if _you _won't say it then _I_ _will_. The Kyūbi attack! That's what happened. The Yondaime defeated it but… you don't know _how _he did it do you? Do you want to know?" By now Mizuki's voice was a low _purr_ which made him sick to his stomach.

* * *

Hokage Tower – Meeting Room.

'_Oh no… Mizuki…!' _The hatred that he already felt for the man just seemed to deepen.

"Fuck! At this rate he's gonna tell him!" Genma cursed as he chewed on his senbon worriedly. This was bad… _really bad_. If Mizuki told him… how was Naruto going to react?

"Mizuki… I've seen enough. ANBU!" Immediately four cloaked figures appeared out of (seemingly) thin air and kneeled down in front of the Hokage.

"Get him. Bring him alive and return the scroll. Go!" The ANBU then vanished as abruptly as they had come and some of the shinobi seemingly calmed down but a few didn't. The ANBU was good but there was no chance that they would get there before Mizuki blundered _that_ secret.

"Hokage-sama..." Kakashi spoke as he stepped up to the table. He was about to continue when the door burst open and almost off its hinges.

"Hokage-sama!" The new arrival shouted as she flew towards the desk and stopped next to Kakashi.

"Anko…? What are you doing here?" She shot Kakashi an annoyed look before catching her breath.

"Where is he? I heard that Mizuki stole the scroll and-"She stopped talking when the Hokage put his hand up.

"I know Anko. I've sent the ANBU but… Mizuki is close to telling him _that_." He swallowed, almost nervously. It was _not _a good idea to get on Anko's bad side and for the most part almost every single shinobi in the room agreed, as they shuffled uncomfortably in the _utter_ _silence _that had descended on the room.

"_What?_" It was a whisper but even Kakashi discreetly inched away from the clearly enraged kunoichi next to him. This was _not _going to end well…

(From now on everything that is in Italics while the scene is in the Hokage Tower will be the scene happening in the forest. They are watching through the crystal ball.)

"_I'll tell you how… The Kyūbi was a natural disaster – something that couldn't be killed, so… he didn't. The Yondaime didn't kill the Kyūbi. Instead he did something else – he sealed it. That's right! In you! You are the Nine Tailed Fox which attacked Konoha and almost destroyed the village!" Mizuki burst into another laughing fit and doubled over as he continued, "Didn't you ever wonder why all the stares, the whispers, the difficulties?! It was because they hated you! Everyone hates you! Even __her__…" The grin by now was downright maniacal and he threw his head back as he cackled._

Most of the shinobi gaped at the crystal ball as they registered what he had just said. "Fuck!" Genma didn't know who said it but he was right on the money. Fuck indeed. His eyes almost robotically turned towards Anko and he flinched at the aura of _death _above her head.

She shot the most murderous look at Mizuki and then snarled. That fucking bastard. When she got her hands on him… Oh he would have wished that he had been just killed by the ANBU. However it seemed as if he was gonna get killed by something else. Almost everyone froze at the voice that spoke in the deadly silence.

"_Oi. Don't screw with me…" Naruto spoke as another wind enhanced shuriken flew towards Mizuki. Snorting Mizuki ducked but then his eyes widened in shock at the second shuriken which was hidden in the shadow of the first. The shuriken tore through Mizuki but in a puff of smoke only a shredded log remained. Then Mizuki flew from the tree tops as Naruto gave chase, two shuriken spinning in his hands, as he blew on one of them._

"_As if I'll let you!" Mizuki pulled out four kunai and chucked them at the mid-air Naruto but to his astonishment Naruto used the widespread fan blades and blocked the incoming kunai before chucking the enhanced shuriken and the other one that was in his hand. Mizuki barely had time to do the hand seals before both shuriken tore into him, once again shredding another log."_

Anko's _aura of death _seemed to diminish at the display and she stared at the crystal ball, dutifully ignoring the stunned looks sent at Naruto. So he had perfected that technique hmm? He was already _that _adept at using it so maybe she should have a spar with him later. But then she was left almost gaping at what he did next.

"_That trick won't work twice!" Naruto shouted as a Fuuma shuriken came flying from the canopy, clearly trying to dissect Naruto._

In mid-air Naruto did four hand seals before taking a big breath and spun around as he blew a wave of Wind.

"_Fūton:_ _Shinkūha!" Naruto shouted as he blew the Vacuum Wave, which batted the Fuuma shuriken aside almost effortlessly, and continued on to the tree tops cutting through them, which forced Mizuki to jump out. Naruto immediately gave chase and whipped out what seemed to be a nunchaku, made from a red metal, but then all three parts of it clicked together to form a bo-staff as he rushed Mizuki. He twirled it around his fingers and swung it around at Mizuki's chest. Mizuki grunted as he jumped above the bo-staff but it wasn't over it – Naruto let the staff run its course and as it struck the ground it became lodged._

'_That was when those kunai exploded! Was that his plan all along?!' Mizuki thought as Naruto used the momentum behind his swing and twirled his whole body before letting a brutal back thrust kick at Mizuki which nailed him in the chest and sent him flying._

"_Gah!" Mizuki coughed out as he slammed into a tree trunk. Naruto, using the last of his momentum, dislodged his staff from the deformed earth (because of the explosion it overturned the ground and Naruto used it to lodge his staff in between two piece of earth) and turned around._

It was at this point that everyone saw the _murderous _expression on his face and more than a few shot quick glances at Anko, no doubt comparing him and her, but she couldn't care less. He was kicking ass!

_He watched Mizuki try to get back up again for a few seconds before rushing him again. Mizuki's head snapped forward and, for a second, his already pale face got even paler. _

"_Damn you! You don't even care that you're the Kyūbi?! Of course you wouldn't! You little monster!" Naruto ruthlessly slammed his metal staff on top of Mizuki's head and wasn't surprised that it was another log. He swiftly spun around and blocked Mizuki's thrust with a kunai with the staff. _

_He glared at the sneer on his face as Mizuki chuckled, "You're better than I expected you little shit!" He hissed at him and Naruto responded by breaking off his staff into its nunchaku state, ducking the kunai, because with no opposition Mizuki's stab 'broke through' and would have got him in the eye, and then just as swiftly fit it together again and thrust towards Mizuki's neck. Grunting in surprise Mizuki managed to grab the other end of the staff with his left hand and jumped over it, unleashing a thrust kick at Naruto's head._

_To his surprise, once again, Naruto let his body fall onto the forest floor and pulled his staff back, jerking Mizuki off balance and towards him, and then unleashed a double thrust kick at Mizuki's chest. However, because Mizuki had a hold of Naruto's staff, he would have been pulled along so instead he let the staff go, rolled backwards, pushed off with both feet and finished the sequence of seals he had been making mid roll._

"_Fūton: Shinkū Renpa!" This time Naruto took a massive breath and then let it out in several blades of wind, at different angles by rapidly moving his head in different directions. The result was a devastating series of wind blades cutting through various trees making them crash down in the direction that Mizuki had been sent flying in. Naruto stopped for a moment and made the Ram sign focusing. He wasn't about to let him-self get caught off guard._

"Holy shit…" Genma, once again, summed up what most people were thinking. Smirking Anko slid next to him and placed the senbon, which had fallen out of his gaping mouth, back in before picking his jaw off the floor and closing it.

"Pretty good isn't he? _Of course _he is, after all his trainer was none other than the amazing Mitarashi Anko!" She chuckled to herself as Genma snapped his head around to stare at her.

"You taught him that?! How in the world…?" Anko snorted.

"Of course I didn't, you idiot. Have you ever seen me do that before?" It was a rhetorical question because most ninja knew that Anko was a Fire and Earth user. She was most definitely _not _capable of doing something like that. But that brought the question. If she didn't then… How did he learn that? This time Kakashi voiced the question.

"Oh… is that so? Then how is he doing that?" There was an eye smile on his face and his book was nowhere to be seen. Looks like he had learned how to deal with her.

"No idea." Anko muttered to him nonchalantly before turning back to the momentarily paused fight, ignoring the mass face-plant behind her. It wasn't that big of a deal was it?

"He also didn't seem shocked or surprised at all when Mizuki told him that little secret." Kakashi continued on, not even bothered by the unanswered question. "What else does he know, hmm?"

Anko's eyes snapped to him and a frosty glare settled on her face. "Kakashi… are you trying to say something?" Sensing the incoming danger Kurenai, one of Anko's friends, stepped forwards and put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down Anko. Kakashi, don't antagonize her." Anko snorted and turned back to the crystal ball. Briefly meeting her eyes with the Hokage she gave her answer.

"Naruto didn't know. About that _little _secret. I didn't tell him anything, because of the law. The thing is though… Naruto has daily spars with me. _With me_. He's long built an immunity to taunts and threats. He probably just discarded it as a scheme to get him off guard and ignored it. That's why he didn't freeze up. In a shinobi life, you can't afford to freeze up. It gets you killed." She finished bluntly. Kakashi hummed, before giving her a nod. She was absolutely right, of course. Kurenai squeezed her shoulder lightly and smiled. The Hokage puffed on his pipe and then spoke.

"Perhaps it would have been better if you _had _told him. The only reason that he hasn't frozen up is because he knows that he can't afford to, not in a fight. However…" He trailed off and puffed again.

A tall Jōnin stepped up and concluded for the Hokage, his father, "When the fight is over it'll most likely catch up to him. Then he'll go into shock, probably, and he'll go looking for answers." He took a drag of his own cigarrete and blew out, _far _away from both Anko and Kurenai, and grunted in greeting to Kakashi.

"Fancy seeing you here Asuma. Looking for someone?" Asuma shot a dirty glare at Kakashi's eye smile for the comment and gave a "Hokage-sama." in greeting towards his dad. Sarutobi nodded back and sighed. His son was right. Naruto would go looking for answers, answers that he wouldn't like. It couldn't be helped though; the 'fox' was out of the bag.

"I'll tell him. With your permission Hokage-sama, I would like to tell him. It's probably better that someone like Jiraya-sama tells him, because he knows a whole lot more about seals than me but I want to tell him. Sure, Jiraya would get the job done but…" Anko bit her lip as she watched the blonde haired genin-to-be stand there, his eyes never leaving the cloud of smoke, the 'enemy', just as she had hammered into his head. It had to be her. Everyone, even the Hokage, acknowledged the fact that Anko was probably the closest person to him. If she told him then he would listen and not get any strange ideas, she would make him understand.

"I agree Hokage-sama." She might have been a just instated Jōnin herself but she was gonna back up her friend. Shooting a discreet glance at Asuma, which made him grunt out a, "Me too." she then looked at Kakashi. Humming in thought Kakashi eye smiled at her.

"I suppose that's only appropriate. After all you have done a lot for him." The Hokage gave his consent. Then everyone's attention was brought back into the fight.

* * *

Forest – Naruto vs. Mizuki.

Naruto steadied his breath. Then his hands flew into the Ram sign and he focused. This was a little bit risky but he was tired of all the kawarimi's. He wanted to finish this. His eyes scrunched up a little bit as his technique went to work. So, that prick was hiding in the smoke huh? His chakra had also taken a bit of a dive. Looks like he had managed to wound him with the last combo somewhat. Then it was time to finish this.

From his sleeve a kunai slid into his right bandaged palm as he made a half Ram sign with his left bandaged hand. He still needed to make the half sign because even though it was the same jutsu the moulding of the chakra was different. Inhaling he brought the kunai up to his face. Then blew out and coated the knife with Wind chakra.

'Fūton: Shinkūjin!' He held the makeshift scimitar in his hands and then took aim before throwing it into the cloud of smoke that had been kicked up by his last jutsu. However he never let his guard down, even when he heard the cry of pain from inside the cloud of smoke. It could be just a trick to make him relax and then Mizuki would take advantage of that. His eyes widened however when Mizuki emerged from the smoke with the kunai firmly stabbed through his right shoulder.

"Fuck!" Mizuki cried as he fell to his knees. He ripped out he kunai and let it drop on the ground. This damn kid and his little tricks, if he hadn't heard it at the last second it would have stabbed him through the middle of the chest. But still, to push him this far… How the hell was he still an academy graduate? He sneered at the little shit. He could still take him. With what he had learned from the scroll he could take anyone!

Another two kunai slid into his palms and Naruto slid into a ready stance, kunai knives firmly held on in a backhanded grip, his kunai level with his chest. He didn't like that sneer. Then Mizuki started laughing.

"You think you can beat me you little shit!? Kufufu… Guess I have no choice. I'll show you what I learned from this scroll!" Naruto didn't know if whether his mind was playing tricks on him or if he had been so focused on not getting killed and instead trying to kill _him_, but he was surprised when Mizuki took off a massive scroll that had been previously strapped to his back and put it down on the forest floor. This only made Naruto tense even further.

* * *

Hokage Tower – Meeting Room.

"Oi, Oi isn't that the Forbidden Scroll? And what did he mean "What I learned from this scroll!"? He didn't actually try to learn a technique from that thing, did he? Is he insane?" Genma spoke up through his senbon and Anko responded, "Not insane – just plain stupid."

"The jutsu in that scroll – they are forbidden for a reason. They all have _extreme _consequences. Whether it is to the user himself or to everything around them." Sarutobi shook his head and puffed from the pipe in his mouth. "To think he would attempt something as foolish as learning and even use one of the jutsu from that scroll…" This didn't bode well. If he could actually pull off a jutsu from that scroll then Naruto would no doubt be overwhelmed. Where the hell was his ANBU?!

"Come on kid," Anko muttered to herself softly, "finish him off!" Kurenai sent her a worried glance. She knew Anko cared for the kid but she hadn't ever seen her this worried, unless it had something to do with _him._

"_Hahaha! This is the Scroll of Forbidden Seals, Naruto! It was with this that the Yondaime sealed you away, Kyūbi!" _

Anko snarled at that, when she got her hands on him….

* * *

Forest – Naruto vs. Mizuki.

"Hahaha! This is the Scroll of Forbidden Seals! It was with this that the Yondaime sealed you away, Kyūbi!" Naruto's eyes narrowed at that piece of information. _'A forbidden scroll? What in the world is he playing at?' _He didn't even register the _taunt _because there was no time to.

"Mizuki… that scroll has the word forbidden in it for a reason," He himself wasn't quite sure what it was but this would probably not bode well for him, "If the scroll is called that then you shouldn't have it. And you definitely shouldn't have looked into it. If you use a technique from a scroll that has forbidden in the title then who knows what could happen?!"

"Oh I know what will happen… It will be your death!" Mizuki popped about three pills into his mouth and then immediately did a hand sign Naruto had never seen before. It was like a cross…

* * *

Hokage Tower – Meeting Room.

The Sandaime had the distinct urge to face palm. Anko snorted and turned her head around as she snickered. Kurenai cringed slightly and Asuma chuckled to himself. Genma did face palm, after taking his senbon out of his mouth of course, and Kakashi just sighed. He had taken three soldier pills and made a sign like that? He wouldn't kill himself but still… he was about to be sorely disappointed.

* * *

Forest – Naruto vs. Mizuki.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Mizuki shouted in glee as he did the hand sign. It was clear though that the results were not what he was expecting as he blinked stupidly. In a puff of smoke three identical copies of Mizuki appeared.

'Three!? Even with those soldier pills all I could do was three!?' He took a deep breath to calm himself. Three was enough to deal with _him_. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows before they shot up. His chakra had skyrocketed when he had eaten the soldier pills but now it had nose-dived. No wonder he had taken those pills in the first place. If he had attempted to use that technique without the pills he would have probably either exhausted himself completely or even killed himself.

Then the pit of his stomach dropped. Those clones weren't illusions. They were _real_. He was no Hyūga but he would even bet money that those clones weren't simple constructs made of a little chakra. It made sense; if they were solid then they had to take _loads _of chakra to make. No wonder he took the soldier pills.

'In that case… I have to finish this quickly!' He doubted Mizuki could make more but that wasn't the point. Mizuki would also be trying to finish this quickly as he didn't have much time before the effects of those three soldier pills caught up to him. From his pouch he chucked shuriken indiscriminately, before jumping back while making hand seals.

One of Mizuki's clones hadn't had the time to deflect the shuriken and had been taken out because of it.

The most curious thing Naruto noted was that the shuriken had only scratched him, it wasn't a vital hit, yet the clone had puffed away.

'So there's the flaw! These clones might be solid but they can only take one hit! In that case…!'

"Fūton: Shinkū Renpa!" Naruto's head came from a low left to a high right, in a diagonal line. However because he was mid-air, the air that he expelled pushed him back, using this to his advantage Naruto continued on with the momentum and spun around, in a 360 degrees angle, blowing his wind waves everywhere.

* * *

Hokage Tower – Meeting Room.

Anko grinned, "Oho! That gaki's sharper than I thought. He already found out the 'flaw' in the jutsu."

"Flaw?" Kurenai muttered.

"Yeah, there's another downside to that jutsu besides taking a lot of chakra to make. It's that each clone will 'pop' when they're hit." Asuma answered her as he put out his cigarrete and slid next to her. Kurenai's eyebrows rose at that piece of information. What was the point of wasting all that chakra if they would just 'die' from one hit?

"That's also why he used the Shinkū Renpa. It's a widespread technique and since he doesn't need to score a fatal hit, he can afford to use chakra like that. After all, a glancing blow and the clone will 'pop'." Kakashi concluded as he slid next to Asuma.

"Smart kid ain't he?" Genma chuckled to himself as he chewed on his senbon and slid next to Anko.

"'Course he is. I trained him after all!" Anko proudly raised her head.

"Just what did you teach him anyways? You said you couldn't do Wind Ninjutsu, and that's pretty much all he's been busting out." Genma said thoughtfully as he glanced at Anko. Her head snapped around and she glared at him.

"Hmph! As if I need to tell _you_." Asuma chuckled at that and Kakashi eye smiled. Kurenai shot her an amused look and Genma snorted.

"However if you want to know so badly, I guess I could tell you. Sure, I didn't teach him those ninjutsus but that's not all a shinobi is about after all. How do you think he was keeping up with Mizuki and even besting him in taijutsu?" Anko asked Genma and before he could respond someone else did it for him.

"No wonder Naruto was so advanced in taijutsu compared to the class." A grimacing Iruka chuckled to himself. Anko blinked at him, "The fuck happened to you?" was her response.

"I had a run in with Mizuki myself. Forgive me Hokage-sama but I couldn't stop him…" Iruka trailed off at the worried look on the Hokage's face.

"Shouldn't you be in the hospital Iruka?" The Hokage frowned at the sheepish look on his face. Young ones these days… Anko gave him a once over before pulling him beside her and making him look at the crystal ball.

"Don't worry about it. That gaki won't let him get away." She said to him and pointed at the scene on the crystal.

* * *

Forest – Naruto vs. Mizuki.

Naruto crouched against a tree trunk, covered by the impromptu smoke screen that had been made by his technique. That jutsu was _so _awesome. He was never gonna get tired of it. But for now he had better pay attention or it was gonna cost him. Making a Ram hand seal he focused once more. He could feel only two chakra signatures which meant that he had taken one of the remaining clones out, both signatures were identical so he knew that it was Mizuki and a clone, but they were separated from each other. One was to his right, _several_ yards away and another was to his left only a few feet away.

'The smart choice is to go for the closest one. If I go to the second one then the one near me might hear or sense me and give chase ruining any chance of an ambush. But this clone could be an ambush _itself_.' Oh well. He was gonna have to take the risk. Shifting as quietly as possible he jumped, vaulting over a tree branch, and then sprung up from tree branch to tree branch, making his way towards the Mizuki that was nearest to him.

However something caught his eye and he dropped down. Grinning Naruto picked up his staff and broke it into three sections, he put it into his pouch and then checked where Mizuki was to make sure he didn't move and then went back to tree hopping.

'I'm coming up to him…' Landing silently he looked around the tree trunk, from the canopy and if he didn't need to be quiet he would have _cackled._ The Mizuki that was on the floor had a wound on his right shoulder, which he was halfway through bandaging it, which meant that this was the real one. Next to him lay the Forbidden Scroll – he had to get that back.

Another thing that Naruto had noticed about the Kage Bushin was that none of Mizuki's Shadow Clones had his wound. The reason was obvious in retrospect. It would be contradictory for a clone to be made with an existing injury since if they were injured than they would puff away. So they didn't. Instead none of the clones had any injuries, which made it easy to identify the real Mizuki.

He was lucky that he had made the right choice and gotten the real Mizuki instead of another clone. If he hadn't been able to take out that one without causing a ruckus then Mizuki would have definitely either run away or come for him again. Naruto didn't like either of those courses of action; especially not the first.

After all; Mizuki had the Forbidden Scroll. He couldn't let him get away with something like that – no way. Naruto took a deep silent breath to calm himself and took the nunchaku/staff from his pouch, putting it in staff form. Time to finish this, once and for all.

That fucking brat! When he got his hands on him he was gonna gut him! 'Damn… I lost quite a bit of blood from the wound, along with the chakra to make that jutsu… I have to kill him quickly. I'm already putting everything into risk just by taking this long but _that_ _guy _should have taken care of some of the problems. If I don't kill him as quick as possible I'll be in trouble.'

Tying the knot of the bandage with his mouth Mizuki was about to start looking for him when he had to jump away from kunai. Sliding away from where the kunai had struck he glared as he saw Naruto standing there. In his haste however he hadn't managed to grab the Scroll, and Naruto stepped up in front of it.

"Mizuki..." He hesitated on calling the man 'sensei', after everything that had happened, "It's over. By now the Hokage has got to know that you took that Scroll and almost everyone will be looking for it and you. I'm actually surprised that the ANBU hasn't found us yet. But that doesn't matter. Time to finish this…" He trailed off as he spun his red, metal staff with both hands before settling himself in a stance. He was sideways, with his right foot slid in front of him, weight resting in his left foot. The staff was held by his right hand in a backhanded grip, but it was angled up, going diagonally, reaching above his left shoulder.

"I just want to know one thing… What you said about the Kyūbi…" He trailed off again and narrowed his eyes at Mizuki. Chuckling said man sneered at him again.

"That's right you little monster. It was all true. Hahaha!" Naruto snarled at him. True? What the hell was he talking about?! How in the world was he…? How _could_ he be? Swallowing heavily Naruto voiced his thoughts. "There is no way you can be right. The Kyūbi? No wonder you tried to do something as crazy as this Mizuki! You should be in an asylum!" However to his growing ire that only made Mizuki laugh even more.

"Hahahahaha! An asylum?! Idiot! What I'm saying is the harsh, cruel truth. No matter how much you want to deny it, deep down you already know it. Everyone lied to you. Even your beloved Sensei!" Mizuki concluded and his laughing fit turned uncontrollable. It was because of this that he missed the absolutely _murderous _look that had appeared on Naruto's face. But he carried on, unaware of his impending doom.

"Deep down she's just like me, even Iruka is! They all hate you, despise you and want you to _die_! _No matter_ _how hard you try no one will ever acknowledge you, no one will ever recognize you and no matter what you do…_" He chuckled dementedly before shouting up at the sky, as loud as he could "_NO ONE WILL EVER LOVE YOU!"_

* * *

Hokage Tower – Meeting Room.

"_Mizuki…_" Anko snarled with a baleful look on her face. "_That bastard…!_" Kurenai could only squeeze Anko's hand. She wasn't particularly close to Naruto but still… that was a horrible thing to say, no matter who it was directed at, even if he was a Jinchūriki. She looked around and saw that most people agreed with her. Looking at Asuma she couldn't help but agree with the cold look on his face. Even Genma, someone who was usually really laid back had an angry look on his face. Hokage-sama was shaking his head sadly and Iruka glared at Mizuki. To her surprise though Kakashi only stared intensely at the crystal orb with an interested look on his face.

"What will you do now Naruto?" Kakashi seemingly asked himself but Anko picked it up.

"Kakashi…" She uttered. Did he not care?

"As a shinobi, and even more so because he is a Jinchūriki, Naruto will have to deal with hatred. He's already dealt with it all his life, of course it wasn't as strong as Mizuki's but the stares and whispers were still there. However now that he's confronted with something like this… how will you deal with it?" Anko gave him a strange look before her herself turned to watch the conclusion as did all the others.

* * *

Forest – Naruto vs. Mizuki.

"I'm not stupid. I've always noticed all the stare and whispers," Naruto began as he looked down, "how could I not? It was always there. Not outright hate like yours but intense dislike. Why do you think I choose to join the academy? It wasn't to become a shinobi and leave all of those things behind. It was so maybe… maybe people would change their minds. Maybe if I protected them, fought for them, then maybe they wouldn't look at me like they do."

"At first I thought of doing pranks, because I was so lonely. I wanted people to realize that I was there. To realize that I existed. Even if it was gonna be negative, it would still be attention, but one day…" He trailed off as he looked up at the sky and Mizuki was befuddled at the small smile on his face.

"One day I was practicing throwing shuriken and kunai; this was the first day after I started the academy, and I ran into her. She was rude and kinda mean but it was different from everyone else. She was only rude because I was too. And I was loud anyways..." he chuckled as he remembered.

"But anyways, she told me something that I'll never forget. So what if people don't like you? If they think that you'll never amount to anything? Prove them _wrong_. Show them who you are and what you can do."

"That was why I kept practicing and practicing sometimes she would give me some tips and even if it was just in the classroom, things got slightly better. She said that she wasn't gonna listen to a stupid kid so I proved her wrong. I studied and studied so I kept getting better. Eventually she started practicing with me and I started making my way up to where I am right now." Naruto eyes landed on Mizuki and almost like 13 years ago he froze.

"That's exactly why it won't work. Throughout all these years loads of people would always say _'You'll never make it!'_ And no matter what, I would always prove them wrong. I've come way too far to stop here. I _won't _stop here. If this is how you think then loads of people must think like you too. I'll keep moving forwards and even if I have to I'll prove everyone _wrong_, one by one I'll make the villagers, the shinobi, _everyone _see Uzumaki Naruto. Not the Kyūbi."

Mizuki only gaped at him before he realized something. "You… y-you knew…?" Snorting Naruto walked forwards.

"I didn't know. But I had my suspicions. It was hard not to be suspicious that something had happened, that it wasn't _just _because I had been born on October 10th," He shook his head, "There's no way that was the only reason." And then he reached for something into his pocket making Mizuki tense. But to his utter bafflement Naruto took a book out. It was an ordinary, leather bound book which had a red swirl on the front cover. He flipped up to a page, which the corner was folded, and Mizuki realized that it was the same book that he almost always saw him reading recently.

Then he turned the book around and showed him what seemed to be a strange diagram. There was a swirl in the middle with some kanji going out in eight directions and there was also some kanji interlocking the eight branches evenly spread out from the swirl.

"This is a seal. It's called the Hakke no Fūin Shiki. It's consisted of two Shishō Fūins, Four Symbols Seals. It's a sealing ritual based on the Fūinjutsu of Uzushiogakure, the land of whirlpools. This sealing ritual is used to seal great amounts of chakra. Two of them, making the Hakke Fūin, would only be used to seal _massive _amounts of chakra." A sliver of recognition slid through Mizuki's eyes.

"You don't mean-"

"That's right. Massive amounts of chakra. Like the Kyūbi. The Kyūbi is a mass of chakra, given physical form. There are other ones like it and they are called Bijū. They are living forms of chakra. This book says about it. If they are masses of chakra then you obviously can't kill something like that. It also says something else…" Naruto turned a few pages before stopping.

"This is what they call them. Jinchūriki. People who have had those Tailed Beasts sealed inside them." To his astonishment Naruto then smiled as he shut the book.

"The Hakke Fūin, a seal used to lock away masses of chakra – the Kyūbi, a physical manifestation of chakra that attacked the village on October 10th – October 10th, my birthday and the Kyūbi attack – the Yondaime Hokage, a sealing master – Jinchūriki, people who have had a Bijū sealed inside them. The looks, whispers, everything up until now… this fight, this law, your hatred…

It was all because of that. I'm not stupid – I couldn't know for sure but I suspected it."

Mizuki slowly crawled away from him before freezing – was he scared? Of course not! He couldn't be scared of _something_ like _this_.

"So?" It was a small question but it had all the impact in the world. Mizuki's mind froze. 'So…?' That was all he had to say?!

* * *

Hokage Tower – Meeting Room.

"_So?" It was a small question but it had all the impact in the world. _

'So…?' That was all he had to say?!

Everyone froze in the room and it was deadly quiet for one heart-stopping moment.

"_This… doesn't change much. Sure - I don't like the fact that I have a massive construct of chakra stuck in me but… I can't change that fact. That's something that I'll never be able to change. But there is something that I can change. People."_

"_People change. I know they do. In the beginning I could tell that even Iruka-sensei didn't like me. He was a bit like the villagers. But… he changed, I changed him. I worked hard; I studied more than anyone else and trained harder than anyone and the dislike – the hatred – eventually started going away. Eventually he began to see me for who I was – a stubborn, determined kid who didn't give up and tried his best. And finally he saw that whatever he had been thinking before was wrong."_

"Naruto…" Iruka muttered as he heard his student say those things through the crystal. It was absolutely quiet in the room and everyone was looking at Naruto. 'They're all watching him. This is just a step Naruto but it begins now. Show them, show them who you are.'

"_It was a bit different with Anko. I don't think she ever saw me for the Kyūbi, but she was still a bit annoying, always saying something like "As if you'll be Hokage… A shrimp like you who only ever eats ramen can't do it kid. The Hokage were the strongest men in the village. If you want to be Hokage then you're gonna have to prove it to me. Show me that you've got what it takes!" It kinda pissed me off, but I understand what she was doing now," He tilted his head to the left and narrowed his eyes at Mizuki, "It was as if it was her way of looking out for me. By helping me get stronger, because she knew that loads of different people would always say the same thing to me, no matter who they were._

"_You'll never make it. Someone like you will never become Hokage."_

Anko snorted and turned her head away as she felt the curious looks and stares. Stupid kid. She would never admit it to anyone in the room but he had nailed it. She rolled her eyes at Kurenai's smile before a small smile grew on her own face.

"Way to go kid…" Genma said with a small smile himself and to her surprise most of the people in the room unconsciously nodded with his words, in agreement.

"_It's exactly why: __no matter what __you say, no matter what you do, you won't shake my resolve__. I __will __become Hokage. And I know, better than anyone else that as soon as you start doubting yourself; it's over, before it could even begin. I'll show you, just like I'll show the village that Uzumaki Naruto will be the next Hokage! You won't stop me!" Naruto finished as he spun the staff and slammed it down in front of him before, for the last time making hand seals, and doing the Jutsu._

"_Fūton: Shinkūjin!" He blew on the staff this time and Mizuki snarled as he lunged forwards at him.  
_

* * *

Forest – Naruto vs. Mizuki.

He picked up the staff, which was coated in Wind chakra, and spun it around himself, before stopping in a different stance this time. He was holding the right end of the staff, behind his back horizontally with a backhanded grip with his right hand. The left side peeked out because the staff was long and around it a blade of wind, similar to the one that had enveloped a kunai, was wrapped around the end, turning the staff into a wicked looking scythe.

"Death Scythe." Naruto uttered the name before pivoting his left feet backwards and around him, his right shifting left and his head moving a few inches to the right to avoid the kunai in Mizuki's hand before his right hand slashed the scythe diagonally from right to left, cutting Mizuki across his chest in a spurt of blood, and letting himself be spun around by the momentum before finally stopping with his back turned to Mizuki who fell on his back, a stunned look on his face.

"It's over. You won't be getting up from that one. I made the blade slightly weaker than normal so you wouldn't be dissected, and so that you could be interrogated but you lost." He turned around and watched as Mizuki lay on the floor. Because of his Chūnin vest and the blade being slightly weaker than normal he wasn't even bleeding so much.

He dropped to one knee as the fatigue caught up to him. Man he was tired. But he had to make sure that Mizuki couldn't even move. He wasn't about to let himself get surprised by a sneak attack. He stuck the staff on the ground and absentmindedly noted that the wind blade had dispersed.

"Damn y-you…" Mizuki coughed blood. He couldn't even move an inch. The effects of the soldier pills had caught up to him, plus the blood that he already lost from the shoulder wound as well as Naruto's last attack had completely incapacitated him.

Naruto walked towards him slowly and pulled out a spool of ninja wire before getting to work.

* * *

Hokage Tower – Meeting Room.

All the shinobi watched as Naruto finished the battle and spoke to Mizuki. It had been a truly tough fight and just like a shinobi fight it had ended abruptly and ruthlessly. Anko nodded in satisfaction as they watched Naruto finish tying him up thoroughly before he went over to check on the scroll, never letting Mizuki out of his sight. Naruto sighed as he sat down, his back against a tree trunk, faced towards Mizuki, with the Forbidden Scroll on his lap. Then he shook his head in disbelief.

"_How in the world is this thing not booby-trapped? It's actually amazing that you opened this thing and didn't, I don't know, get sucked in an alternate dimension or something. Or maybe you could have been locked in an utterly devastating and just sinister Genjutsu? Perhaps it could have just blown up in your face? Another thing I'll have to change when I get the hat huh…?"_

_Mizuki just snorted at that but surprisingly didn't make any comments._

"_Hmm… I wonder… That technique you learned from the scroll… I wonder if Anko would teach me that?"_

"…_Are you insane? That's a kinjutsu. It's forbidden, idiot."_

"_Didn't you learn it? Besides, from what I saw, that jutsu must take shitloads of chakra to do. It'd be perfect when you think about."_

_A Mizuki's blank look Naruto just rolled his eyes before answering, "Kyūbi." Mizuki just blinked and went back to staring at the sky._

"_Kyūbi… Man am I gonna punch some people in the face when I get back… How do you forget to mention something like that? Then again how do you say something like that to a kid? "Uhm… by the way… you've-got- a-fox-the-size-of- the-Hokage-monument-sealed-inside-you and it's purely made out of chakra… Good luck?" I really would have punched someone in the face if they did something like that. What am I even supposed to do with it? Should I do something with it?"_

_He sighed at the end of his rant before finishing off,_ _"Yep, someone's definitely getting punched." _

'Well…' Anko though to herself, at least he was okay. She didn't mind the getting punched part one bit. He was safe, the scroll was safe, and Mizuki had gotten his ass kicked. Yep, all was right with the world – for her at least. Sarutobi stared at the crystal orb with a blank look on his face, before almost robotically turning his head up to stared at them.

"I'm getting punched aren't I?" Everyone nodded solemnly and he sighed in defeat, to be honest this had gone much better than he feared. Oh well… sacrifices have to be made after all. At least Naruto had his answers, 'And at least he won't be questioning another little mystery…'

However he should have known, because it always happened with Naruto, without fail.

"_Wait… why the fuck did he seal it inside me? Am I just that unlucky that I happened to be the closest baby at hand and he was like "Oh? Well… isn't that convenient?" Seriously… one day I'm gonna go to a casino and cash up all this god-damned awful luck. I'll probably be thrown out after cleaning the house and banned but I don't give a shit. This is just fucking ridiculous!" _

_Naruto just shook his head in distaste and scowled, honestly, why was it always him? _

Anko couldn't help it and she just laughed, Genma just chuckled to himself as well as Asuma and even Kurenai smiled, while Kakashi gave his trademark eye-smile.

Then to their surprise the ANBU arrived. Four of them landed in the clearing, two keeping a perimeter around the site, one healing Mizuki's wounds so he wouldn't bleed out (Naruto had felt slightly vindictive and tied him up without bandaging, making the wires dig into his wound) and the last was coming up to Naruto.

* * *

Forest – Naruto and Mizuki.

"Uzumaki-san." The cloaked figure spoke in a toneless voice. Naruto blinked before hauling himself up on his feet and then extending his hand with the forbidden scroll. The ANBU nodded to him as he took the scroll carefully. "We were not able to assist you earlier because Mizuki had help. However we came across his Kage Bushin in the forest and tracked you here."

Naruto nodded back. It was all right, the fact that if those guys hadn't taken out his accomplice and that he would have helped Mizuki made his stomach drop. Damn, he was way out of his league wasn't he? At least that had been avoided.

The ANBU who had been checking on Mizuki's wounds came up to him next, "Do you require healing Uzumaki-san?" He blinked at the ANBU and then realized that he hadn't even checked himself for any wounds, man he was out of it…

"No, I think I'll be fine." He said after checking himself. To his surprise he actually only had a few scratches on his blue, long-sleeved shirt which had two red swirls on his shoulders. Then he looked down at his blue/blackish shinobi trousers, which were tucked in at the calves with bandages and his black shinobi sandals. Good, he only had a few scratches here and there; at least his outfit wasn't ruined. Thinking about that he remembered his dark red jacket that he had on. It was still probably in the clearing that Mizuki had first ambushed him in.

"This yours, Uzumaki-san?" Speaking of said jacket it was on the hands of the ANBU in front of him. He briefly fist pumped before gracefully taking the jacket, putting it on and bowing to the ANBU, "You are fit for travel?" The way the ANBU worded it sounded more like a statement but he still nodded in confirmation, "Then we are leaving. Let's go Uzumaki-san."

"Right… by the way, what will happen to Mizuki?" Blinking at his peculiar question the ANBU answered it as they got a move on, Mizuki on the back of another ANBU, no doubt sedated.

"He will be interrogated in order to find out who his accomplice was and who he was working for." Naruto nodded at that, it only made sense. Sighing he jumped from tree branch to tree branch but almost missed one when the same ANBU who had given his jacket to him spoke once again.

"Good work, Uzumaki-kun." He gaped at her, her because she had sounded female just now, but then he grinned.

'Hell yeah, I'm awesome!' The ANBU paid no mind to the snickering academy student; he had deserved it after all.

* * *

Authors Note:

Well... (_awkward cough) _So yeah... not much else to say, besides from the fact that I am shitting it and desperately hoping that you guys will like the story. So uhm... try to leave a review with your thoughts and critics, they _do _help, flames on the other hand will be used to cook my dinner (I mean the trolling type of flames.)

To be honest I'm really pleased with this first chapter. This was just one of those ideas that wouldn't leave my head, I've got a few others but I just scribbled them down (nothing like this one) and... yeah, that's it folks.

Jutsu Library:

Fūton: Shinkūjin! (_Wind Style: Vacuum Blade!_)The user exhales wind-infused chakra onto a weapon in order to increase its sharpness, range and lethality. For example, the user can infuse a kunai to resemble a makeshift scimitar or infuse shuriken to increase their range and cutting power.

Fūton: Shinkū Renpa! _(Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!) _The user takes a deep breath and exhales several blades of wind at different angles, by rapidly moving their head in various directions.

Fūton: Shinkūha! _(Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!)_ The user takes a deep breath and spins while exhaling, compressing the released air into a solitary blade of wind that covers a substantial area around the user, due to their circular motion. The resulting sharpened blast is large enough to slice through multiple targets located a significant distance from the user, causing grievous injuries to those hit.

Kawarimi. _(Body Replacement Technique)_ (Don't actually think I need to do this one but whatever...) With this technique, users replace their own body with some other object, generally with a block of wood, the moment an attack lands. This creates an optical illusion, making the enemy think the attack was successful. From this, the user can use the lapse in the enemy's attention to attack or flee from the battlefield. Explosive Tags can be attached to the replacement for an added surprise. (Pay very careful attention to the last line, _very careful, __Kufufufu...)_

By the way... I will try my best to use Japanese Translations for techniques, unless I think it sounds better in English (Very rare but it happens) so I will almost always have this Jutsu Library corner. Unless the technique has been already used and explained here, I will explain new techniques. Oh yeah! If you have a site or something in which you can either translate from English to Japanese and it's really accurate or where there are loads of Jutsus then please leave it in the reviews. I would appreciate it _a_ _lot._

_Mugetsu Out! _


	2. The Team

Stretching Naruto yawned. Yesterday after the whole Mizuki fiasco he had gone to the Hokage Tower to be de-briefed (Strange because he wasn't even a shinobi yet but still…) it was pretty awesome that the whole thing had been classified as a B-rank mission, even before he had become a ninja.

The Hokage had given him his pay after he recounted everything that had happened and they had talked about the Kyūbi thing. Naruto noted that the old man had been slightly nervous about the whole thing but he didn't say anything. He also didn't blow a gasket, he was too tired for that and it wouldn't have done anything besides make him look like a brat. He was most definitely _not _a brat.

Anyways, after the Hokage told him the official story – The Yondaime had no choice but to seal the Kyūbi in him to stop the Bijū's rampage and he had been the baby he chose. He didn't know why but it felt as if things weren't that simple but he let it slide. It didn't matter now, he couldn't change those facts.

Anko had pulled him so that he was inches away from her before clearly saying it, "_You are not a monster, got it?" _He could only nod at that. She was right but a wise remark might have gotten him stabbed so he shut his mouth. And then when they were walking from the tower she had put a hand on his hair before grinning and saying, _"Great job, Naruto!_" He wouldn't let anyone else know but those words had made him ridiculously happy, to the point where he could've fought Mizuki all over again and still kicked his ass.

However right now he wasn't going to be kicking any ass, not _yet. _Grinning he went to the bathroom before doing his morning rituals. After coming out he was dressed almost identically to yesterday, except for the fact that his shirt was now black and short-sleeved. Under it he had fishnet covering his arms (as well as his whole torso) which ended a few inches away from his wrist. On his hands he had black gloves which came up to where the fishnet ended, fully covering him. He still wore black ninja sandals, but now had fishnet tying his blue/black shinobi trousers.

However the biggest and most noticeable change was that he had a dark orange sash around his waist, which went down to his sandals. (Can't be Naruto without orange…)

Yawning again Naruto went to his kitchen, absentmindedly watered his plants, made some ramen and then made his way up to the roof of his apartment. Sitting down he swung his legs from side to side casually, while eating his ramen. Dango was good (especially Anko Dango) but… ramen was just awesome.

He slurped on it as his eyes wandered to the Hokage monument, tracing each face before stopping at the last one. The Yondaime huh… Well he couldn't say that he _hated _the guy, because he didn't know him and wouldn't that be hypocritical? Instead he didn't know how to feel. So he ignored it. There were more urgent things to consider than whether when he went to the next life and found the Yondaime he would punch him in the face or punch him in the face before shaking his hand out of respect. The guy had sacrificed everything to keep the village safe, even himself.

'Again… I get the feeling that I'm missing something…' Oh well…. Today was graduation day. _Finally_. Don't get him wrong, he liked his class and Iruka-sensei but still… he was finally about to be free from that boring academy. He would probably miss it though. 'Well… I can always visit anytime I like when I'm having a peaceful stroll through the village, Hokage hat in hand.' He chuckled to himself before throwing his cup ramen in a trash can on the street below.

Stretching one more time Naruto got up and then kicked off, vaulting over a wash-line (How could people do _that? _A wash-line? In a shinobi village? What if some shinobi on his merry way didn't see it?) He kicked off from a tree branch. That was one thing he absolutely loved about Konoha. There were trees everywhere, even in the middle of the village there were still massive trees planted right there. It made it easier for navigation and it was just nice to look at. He jumped onto a roof and then onto a water tank before nose diving at the ground, however he righted himself in mid-air and landed smoothly on ground.

Stretching once again he made his way to the entrance to the academy, for the last time, and entered the building. He whistled casually with a pleasant look on his face and absentmindedly sidestepped the hurrying Chūnin that would have ran right into him. She _was _carrying all those books so it wasn't a surprise.

He would have chuckled or something but she was plenty cute so he only gave her a glance back before stopping in front of his door. Smoothing out any crinkles he opened it and then began making his way to his seat, casually brushing a blonde lock out of his eye, he sat down and put his feet up. He was the first one but then again he always was. He hated being late, it made you look like a sloth and an idiot, which he was far from, so he was almost always early or right on time.

Then he took the book from yesterday and flipped through a few pages before stopping on a certain page. This had nothing to do with seals; rather it just had some clan history, _his _clan history. The Uzumaki's were a clan and the Hakke Fūin that he had been studying was based on a sealing ritual from there.

It was only natural. He was an orphan so even if it was just a book he wanted to have something from his clan. The Hokage had asked where he got the book from when he had pulled it out to show him the Hakke Fūin and Naruto had responded that he really didn't know. On his birthday 4 years ago the book was just on his table. He first thought it was a present from Anko but she said that she hadn't given him that.

The Hokage had gotten a befuddled look before he chuckled to himself as he seemingly discovered something Naruto hadn't but he let it drop. Strangely enough the Hokage hadn't questioned him about the Jutsus but he didn't miss the glance he shared with Anko.

He pulled his legs back and put the book down on the table. Then he rested his head on his right fist and hummed in thought. He was a bit surprised at himself that he hadn't gone into shock or something but he guessed that he just didn't know how to respond to this situation. Looks like he was gonna have to find Anko later. But for now he gave a glance as he saw the door open and some students fill in.

From the window on his left Sasuke came in and smoothly slid into his seat. He had to give credit to him; the guy was pretty smooth, even if he didn't like him that much. He was always cold and stoic, didn't utter a word to almost anyone, and he didn't miss the almost glare sent at him. Looks like he had seen the ranking sheet too huh…? He put his book away and put his legs up again, giving a lazy smile to a few kunoichi to-be, which made them look away and put their heads down, no doubt in order to hide the blushes.

He wasn't a bragging kind of person. At least he bragged differently than most people. Instead of bragging verbally he did it with actions. There was nothing like showing people up and then acting casually about it, it only pissed them off even more.

Anyways the point was that he wouldn't say anything about his good looks (If Anko was here she would've fallen over laughing) to anyone or brag, instead he only showed it with his actions. A smile here and there, a comment here and there and he would prove to anyone that he did have good looks and that the female part of the class seemed to think so too. Well in his book there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

He then sent an annoyed look at an unruly blond lock and pushed it out of the way. His hair was spiky and everywhere but he constantly told Anko that he had it under control. It went down and covered his forehead and there were two long bangs going down the side of his face.

She said it made him look girlish but he said he looked pretty cool. Then they heard a massive rumble from down the hall and everyone took their seats, well away from Sasuke, and tried to look as casual as possible. Snorting Naruto leaned forwards and watched the door interestingly. He _could _save Sasuke from his fate but it was just amusing to watch, then the door was burst open with two kunoichi shouting, "First!" at the same time.

He blinked and then sent the Uchiha an almost apologetic look. Poor guy.

"What do you mean first, _forehead_?!" Ino, a pretty blonde with long hair and one bang that almost covered one eye as well as a purple outfit, the top ended at her midriff but it was covered in bandages, she had white arm-warmers and some bandages covering her thighs, sneered at the other kunoichi, Sakura a pink haired girl with a red/pinkish dress and biker shorts.

"What do _you _mean first, _Ino-pig?_" Sakura snarled back, this happened daily and to be honest he could've probably prevented it by just sitting next to Sasuke. The reason was that it would initially stump both kunoichi that the 'rivals' were sitting next to each other and in which case Iruka-sensei would come in the classroom and tell them to just sit down.

However if Iruka didn't come and they tried to move him…

Naruto didn't consider himself scary by any stretch of the imagination but once Anko had told him that he could be particularly scary when he wanted to. Naruto had observed that this only happened when he was in a bad mood, which was almost never because he was just a really laid back person who was nice and just cheerful.

He was only ever in a bad mood when either: Ichiraku Ramen was closed, Anko was out on a mission and he actually either really wanted to talk/hang out/or ask her something and finally but not least when something utterly ridiculous had happened to him. To his distaste it was almost always the latter.

His luck was just ridiculously bad. Once he had been walking in front of the Inuzuka clan house and somehow the _entire fucking kennel _had gotten free and then proceeded to chase him (Why just him? There were loads of other people on the street) throughout the village. And then, finally, Kiba's sister had managed to stop them before they ate him.

By the way his sister was kinda hot, not that he would ever say that to him, but just for the record.

She had apologized but Kiba was about to make a wise ass remark and it was then that it had happened, he had given Kiba _a look_. It was just a look but it had made Akamaru whimper and Kiba slowly back away into the Inuzuka estate before dragging his sister inside and slamming the gates. From then on whenever he was in a bad mood, probably because something ridiculous had just happened to him, he would just give people _a look _that just said 'Don't. Fuck. With. Me.' The usual reaction was backing away slowly before making a run for it. Except for Sasuke. The first time he had given him that look he had been caught off guard and slightly surprised but he had just stared back. He had to give him credit; he had balls.

But anyways, in the case that Iruka-sensei wouldn't make it in time and that they would tell him to move he would give them the _look_. And just as expected they would nervously back away before sitting themselves _far _away from him. He felt slightly guilty for doing it but they could be such fan girls. It was a bit annoying but it could've been worse. They could be completely unskilled fan girls. He wouldn't have felt the slight bit guilty if they were.

Anyways the squabble had finally ended with Sakura sitting next to Sasuke, chatting animatedly _at _him because Sasuke wasn't even looking at her and Ino sitting dejectedly on another row, sending jealous looks at Sakura.

Sighing to himself he glanced at Sasuke and smirked at his facial expression. To most it would seem like he was utterly ignoring Sakura and pretending that she wasn't even there, but to Naruto who knew Sasuke a little better than most, the subtle twitch of his fingers and the glare sent at him told him all he needed to know.

'_I hate you Naruto…' _He snorted at the message and ignored him. Not his fault that he couldn't keep his fan girls away. Naruto did it smartly, by giving them a little bit of attention here and there, which would make them not be so clingy all the time like Ino and Sakura.

Anyways the door opened and Iruka-sensei finally came in. He was a bit surprised that he had a slight limp and he could see some bandages peeking out from under his shirt but at Iruka's look he let it go, he would probably tell him later.

"We will be doing the tests now in order to decide which of you will graduate and which will not. So without further adue let's get started…" Naruto stretched one last time before putting his game face on. It was finally time.

* * *

Several Hours Later…

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but grin as he walked out of the academy building, head band in hand. He was about to find Anko when some voices stopped him, they were whispers but he could still hear them.

"Hey, isn't that…?"

"Yeah, I heard he graduated. Did you also hear about the incident yesterday?"

"The one with the Chūnin?"

"Yeah, loads of shinobi were in a panic, something about an important Scroll. I saw him getting escorted to the Hokage Tower by some ANBU…" Oh great, they were probably gonna think that he had stolen the scroll, but then to his surprise a third voice cut in.

"Yeah! Apparently he managed to stop a traitor or something from leaving the village with an important scroll." The new arrival concluded for the two women. The original two gave each other surprised glances before looking at him and to his own surprise their looks were a bit guilty.

"Really…? I thought that perhaps he had stolen it… Looks like I was wrong…" The first woman admitted and the second one nodded her head guiltily. Then they looked at him with an undecipherable look before a sliver of _something _went through their eyes.

"My bad… I guess he deserves some credit huh…" The second woman concluded and the third nodded in agreement. The first turned her head away guiltily before walking off. Sighing the second sent an apologetic look at the third one before she walked off after her friend. Naruto stood there for a few seconds frozen. What was that look? Then he shook it off and walked off to find Anko.

But because he did he didn't see the grin that the third woman sent at him and how she disappeared with a puff of smoke.

* * *

Konoha Streets.

* * *

Naruto almost skipped. Almost. That would have made him look like _such _an idiot so he didn't do it. He did, however, grin until his mouth was stretched as far as it could go. Finally, it was about to begin. From now on he was gonna endure much bigger hardships and face even bigger challenges but he had finally began making his way towards his dream.

'Tomorrow is team assignment… I wonder who I'll get put with…?' Naruto casually jumped over a merchant stall which was being moved across the street, swiped a fruit and flicked a coin to the stall owner, before biting into his apple. Tomorrow was going to be good. He hoped that he got put with a certain cute blonde. Hey, he was _not _a fan boy, no matter how much Anko said that he had all the signs. There was nothing wrong with having a slight crush on a cute blonde his age right?

_He was not a fan boy._ _Period_.

That would be pretty awesome if he got put in the same team as her. She was the perfect support ranged kunoichi because of her Yamanaka mind techniques and he was the perfect muscle. Fast, hard-hitting and devastating. He would be up in people's faces, kicking their faces in and she would provide support. Unknowingly he never even thought of his third team-mate or sensei.

Yep, definitely not a fan boy.

Anyways he was making his way along the streets when a voice stopped him cold.

"Hey, Naruto! Wait up!" Oh God. It was her. She was behind him, telling him to wait up. 'Calm the fuck down!' There was no need to panic honestly; if it was Sakura then he should be hypervenlating. Sakura was… complicated. To be honest he had nothing against her. Sure, she could be better at _everything_ if she could think about anything else than Sasuke. But she didn't and because of that he immediately felt a little bit of dislike. He just hated it when people wasted their potential; he knew it was none of his business but still…

There was also the fact that Ino was much easier to deal with than Sakura. Sakura almost always seemed to be in a bad mood, at least when he talked to her, and she _did not _know how to take a joke. Bad idea, really bad idea. Ino on the other hand was much easier to talk to and get along with. Most of her bravado was really just her acting to amuse herself and other people (including Sakura) so it was easy to joke around with her.

'All right! That's my course of action. I'll play along with her and not mention anything that could be remotely related with Sasuke. If I do that then I should be fine.'

Turning around Naruto took another bite out of the apple, in order to hide his smile. She really was pretty. There was just _something_ there. Maybe it was her odd _(not strange)_ blue, slightly green, coloured eyes? They were lovely in his opinion. Maybe it really _was_ just a blonde thing? He just instinctively liked her.

However the most likely reason was that she was strong. It wasn't physical strength per-se, it was just this _strength. _She was confident, sure of herself; a bit strong headed but there wasn't anything wrong with that. She wouldn't take shit from anyone and if you pissed her off she'd beat the crap out of you.

You could argue that Sakura was like that too but he didn't see it. Yeah, _totally not a fan boy._

Chewing on his apple he wondered what she could want. They weren't very close (to his dismay) but he reasoned that it was only because in these last few years he had really focused himself on his studies and training.

The Hokage was the strongest person in the village in every sense of the word so it would be shameful to the other Hokage's and to the title itself if he screwed around, didn't give his all but still spouted big talk about being Hokage. So he didn't. He focused heavily on being the best in the academy; after all first impressions were a big deal. How was he supposed to get people to like him and respect him if he messed about and was a pain? Of course they wouldn't like him if he was like that. As a side effect of this the only person he hanged out much with was Anko when she wasn't in missions. He didn't mind though, she was really fun to be around and amusing.

Ino huffed as she caught up to him. She must have been on the other end of the street, no wonder she took so long to get there. Smiling at him she started the conversation, "You sure were in a hurry to get out of the academy, weren't you?" He chuckled at that and turned around to continue his walk, Ino now walking alongside him. He noted that her Hitai-ate was around her waist and that it was purple, blending in with her skirt-like bottom. Nodding at that he looked at his own dark orange sash. 'Maybe I should do something like that…?' it sure looked nice, then again Ino always looked nice.

"Yeah… sorry about that. I just wanted to find Anko as soon as possible and show her this," he lifted his forehead protector," bet she'll be proud." Ino raised an eyebrow at that. Anko? Who was that? Seeing the possibility of gossip she prodded him.

"Anko…?" Flushing Naruto realized that she most likely had never heard of Anko before, turning around to explain he found himself a bit stumped. _What was _Anko to him? Sure she was one of the closest people to him but… he couldn't really call her a sister could he? She sure acted like that but he didn't know if she'd mind.

Shrugging Naruto went with it, "Anko's like a sister I guess. She's really helped me over the years and she's constantly there for me." Now thinking about it, what if she had assumed that Anko was like a girlfriend or something? He liked Ino but she could gossip without end if you prompted her and gave her reason to.

"Sister huh…" The way she had said that sounded a bit strange and he looked over but she only had a thoughtful frown on her face.

Ino didn't know why she felt slightly relieved but she ignored it.

Thinking quickly Naruto tried to change the subject, his eyes darted over before coming to stop on her forehead protector. Then he grinned. Ino was _so _amusing when you got her going about something, as long as that something wasn't Sasuke.

"Oho! Hitai-ate huh…? Aren't you special?" He gave her a mock sneer and she sent him a surprised look before seeing it and then she was off.

"_Of course_, after all I am the most talented kunoichi in the class." She put her nose up at him and he almost snickered.

"Are you now? Hmm… _I _though Sakura was pretty good…" He casually said and then took another bite off the apple to hide his smile. Oh this was gonna be good.

"_Sakura?" _Ino almost snorted, "As if that _forehead _could beat me. I'm _way _better than her, aren't I?" She sent the puppy eyes and he almost melted. That was just overkill. But then he composed himself. Then he suddenly grinned as he thought of something.

"Hey, how about I introduce you to Anko? She's crazy strong, a Jōnin. She could even give you a few tips…" He trailed off and shot her a sideways look.

"A Jōnin?" She sent him a curious look. Naruto had a Jōnin for a sister figure? And why did the fact that it was a _sister figure _relieve her so much? It was getting annoying so she shrugged her shoulders and gave her consent, "Go ahead then. I don't have to watch the shop today so it's all right." He shot her a smile before nodding his head to the rooftops. Rolling her eyes she followed him as he jumped on top of a random tree branch and bounded off to the nearest one. To her surprise though she had to push herself slightly to keep up with the pace that he had set. Grunting slightly Ino landed in front of a… Dango store? She gave him a weird look which he didn't see because he was in front of her already going to the benches out to the side of the stand. There was a woman sitting there with plates and sticks of dango everywhere as she used one as toothpick. She flicked it away and smirked at them before waving them over and saying, "Well would you look at that? Hitai-ate huh… not bad kid!" Naruto snorted at her comment before sitting himself across from her, Ino sitting next to him.

"Nice to see you too, Anko. This is Ino, she's a classmate. She also graduated from the academy." Anko gave her a once over before shooting him a knowing look but she didn't make any comments beside, "An Yamanaka huh? You by any chance Inoichi's girl?" She blinked at that before nodding. Anko blinked at her before grinning good naturedly, "Ah! I work with him from time to time. A good guy, kinda strict," She sent an amused look at Naruto at this point but Ino had no idea why. She also didn't know why Naruto had gotten a blank look on his face but before she could ask Anko continued on, "great interrogation specialist." Ino smiled at that. She didn't know her daddy was so well known, she then smirked at Naruto. Giving her a dry look he spoke to Anko.

"Well… I just wanted to let you know how things had gone. And to ask you if you had any advice for how things are going to go from now on." Anko hummed in thought before grinning brightly, "Nope!"

"Uhm… Anko-sempai?" Anko gave her an amused look but didn't say anything so Ino continued, "Do you think you could give me a few tips? If you work with daddy then you must be in T&I right?" Anko nodded at that and hummed in thought.

"I'll tell you what… come around the dango store and I'll see what I can do. You interested in joining T&I?" At Ino's excited nod she chuckled, "You should tell your dad that; he'll be thrilled to hear it." Ino nodded at that said a "Thank you."

"Well I think we should go now…" Naruto by this point was inwardly sweating. It was a miracle that Anko hadn't made any comments so far. Either miracle or she just wasn't that mean and he had misjudged her.

"Have fun!" Anko waved at them as they made a quick exit, "Oh! And my advice is… keeping your head cool and it should be fine." He took back what he had just thought. If you didn't know Anko and you didn't know the fact that he liked Ino slightly you probably wouldn't have figured that as anything less than advice, for his question. He knew a jab when he saw one. Shooting her a dark look when Ino wasn't looking Anko just waved back.

Stupid woman. Oh well, at least he had avoided the (quite possibly) most awkward moment of his life because Anko hadn't drunk any sake. Thank god for that.

Anyways there wasn't anything else to do so they just wandered around the village in a comfortable silence, occasionally broken when Naruto would prompt Ino into another tangent about something (anything besides Sasuke and her name, _definitely_ _not her name_) Eventually Naruto walked by Ino's family shop and bade her farewell with a 'see you tomorrow.' Everything had gone much better than expected to be honest but then surprisingly Anko had found him and then proceeded to drag him to a training ground before making him fight for his life.

That had been in the morning. The sun was already going down. Heaving in exhaustion Naruto fell down on his knees, hands supporting him. Jeez, why was she doing this with such gusto? He looked back at the destroyed training ground as Anko plopped down next to him, not even sweating. How ridiculous was that? Jesus Christ she was crazy. Naruto fell on his back as he tried to get his breathing to normal. Anko passed him a water canteen, from which he drank greedily from, before lying on her back next to him. Strangely enough from where they were laying down you could see the Hokage monument and with the way the sun was setting it made it glow. Anko stretched and sat up before saying,

"Naruto… I've got something to teach you. It's the last thing I'll be able to teach you before you get a new sensei so listen up closely…" He sat up and listened closely. Anko hadn't actually taught him that much. She had only given him tips on how to do the academy techniques and had sparred constantly with him. Because of that he was forced to get better, in order to survive her crazy sparring sessions. She did not know the meaning of holding back.

As he listened to what she was saying a wild grin spread across his face. Oh this was gonna be good.

* * *

Next day.

* * *

Fuck yeah! He was all fired up for today. Absentmindedly, while jumping through the window of his apartment, he wondered when he was _not _fired up. Strangely enough he couldn't come up with an answer so he ignored that little conundrum. It didn't matter at all because he was going to be put on a team today where he (hopefully) would have as equally awesome team-mates. He just had to have some awesome team-mates. Any less and this whole thing would suck but of course his team-mates would be probably just as awesome as him. Of course they would.

He ran along the village dodging market stalls, market vendors and kids running around. His outfit was still the same except that his headband was somehow attached to his orange sash. Then he saw Ino going out of the flower shop and immediately slowed down. Time to put up his badassery side instead of this almost child-like side, honestly what was he thinking? But even as he waved to her he could not keep the massive grin off his face. He was just so excited. Ino seemed to pick it up too as she commented on it, "Aren't you excited? Jeez Naruto…"

"Aw come on! Aren't you fired up for this?" He did not whine. Seriously.

"Of course I am! After all I'll probably get put into Sasuke-kun's team!" She almost squealed at the end and he pretended to be sick. Huffing she slapped his arm and walked ahead of him. Chuckling he caught up to her and said his piece.

"Well at least there's no way that me and Sasuke will be put together."

"Of course you won't, after all you're the second ranked and he's first, that would be just overkill." Then his grin grew savagely.

"_Second ranked?_ When was the last time you checked the ranking sheet Ino?" At Ino's blank look he continued, "That's right! I, the Great Naruto-sama have surpassed Sasuke." He smirked as he held his head up and Ino gawked at him. Surpassed Sasuke? He had actually did that? Sasuke and he had been competing for the top spot for almost the entire year and at the end Naruto had bested him? Wow… she should be mad but considering the fact that Naruto was an orphan and he was the top rank in the class it kind of made her disappointed at herself. Sure Sasuke was a… _orphan _too but he came from the great Uchiha clan. One of the founding clans of the village.

"B-but… Sasuke is so good at everything." She stammered. Surprisingly Naruto nodded in agreement before he made his point.

"He is. However… I am just naturally awesome. Well… there's that and the fact that if I wasn't top ranked than it would be shameful for the Hokage name when I took the hat wouldn't it?" Ino stopped at that. Hokage name? Hat? Oh yeah! Naruto's goal was to become Hokage wasn't it?

Well… if it had been anyone else she might have thought that they probably couldn't do it but if there was one thing that you could say about Naruto was that once he set his mind on a goal, he would get there. You could bet on it. Even when he was little he would do anything to get better.

She had seen that Naruto would often stay behind after class to practice things and once she had been curious enough to watch him. He had so much stamina it wasn't even funny. He just kept practising and practising and wouldn't stop, even when she sure that she would have given up he had just gotten back up and kept going until he mastered it.

Naruto wouldn't get things as quickly as other people but that would be okay because by the next time they talked about that subject he would be a master at it. It must have been his _sister, _that Jōnin Anko, helping him but when you thought about it everyone had help from their parents.

Parents. Naruto didn't have parents did he? She remembered an incident when they were in the second grade. These bullies, from the year above (imagine that…) had been teasing him about it. Naruto had broken one of the boy's noses and would have probably broken some more bones if Iruka-sensei didn't stop him. That was the only time that she ever remembered that Naruto had been in _trouble_. She didn't count it as trouble personally, but whatever.

And no matter what anyone else said, that _accident_, where Naruto had been walking by the staff room and said staff room just seemed to spontaneously combust was _not _his fault. No way. That other one where he had gotten chased by the Inuzuka kennel and had accidentally ran to the academy in hopes of ditching them, but had only caused the dogs to tear the place apart (she had felt sorry for him _but it was _pretty funny) was also not his fault. Absolutely no way.

Smiling Ino said the first thing that came to mind, "Way to go Naruto! You might just do it…" His head had snapped at her direction and for one moment his expression was blank. Then the most genuine, happiest grin she had seen him smile came across his face and his eyes just twinkled. He snickered to himself quietly before responding,

"I hope I get put on a team with you, Ino!" Ino didn't know why but she suddenly hoped too. More than she hoped to be in Sasuke's team. She also hoped he wouldn't notice how red her cheeks were, suddenly; wouldn't that be embarrassing?

After a while they had gone back to their natural colour, and her heart had gone back to beating normally instead of erratically, they finally reached the academy. She never noticed that because she had been walking and talking with Naruto that she had missed her _race _with Sakura but if she would have, she probably wouldn't have cared, she was too busy trying to figure out this new enigma that had appeared before her.

Naruto Uzumaki… he was interesting. So interesting that when she got to the classroom she didn't even look at Sakura's smug smile at getting to sit next to Sasuke. She only followed Naruto to his seat and sat next to him. He just had this aura about him. It was of pure confidence, there wasn't any real arrogance, just the belief that he would succeed and suddenly Ino smiled. It was nice to be around Naruto, he just had this power to inspire people.

If they got put in a team than she would be able to not only witness that more but feel it more too. She would later realize that she hadn't even said a, "Hello, Sasuke-kun!" to Sasuke. He was just that interesting.

Iruka-sensei came in and everyone quieted down. It was time to get to business. Except for the fact that she zoned out Iruka's speech, Ino had her head in the game. Totally. The speech was boring anyways; her father had given something similar to her when she had gotten home so she could afford to skip it. She glanced over at Naruto and froze.

He wasn't grinning anymore, instead he had the most serious look on his face and his eyes just _shone _with determination. Ino demurely stopped staring and turned her head away from him, casually ignoring her cheeks that were burning again, her heart that had skipped a beat and her stomach which had just back-flipped. Was she going to get a cold? Yeah, that _had_ to be it.

Yep, just a cold; nothing to worry about.

If he could be bothered, Shikamaru, who had seen the whole thing, would have snorted but that was too troublesome.

Iruka began to read the teams and Ino gave a quick glance at Naruto to see that his expression had changed yet again (She was secretly thankful for that) but now it was an almost casual smile. His eyes caught hers and the smile widened, making him close his eyes. Suddenly her stomach settled and she finally zoned in again as Iruka was reading out Team 7.

"Team 7 will be: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke-"A squeal followed," and Akimichi Choji." Surprisingly enough Ino didn't feel like protesting. She wasn't sure how to react and just sighed in disappointment. Because of that she didn't see the wide-eyed look Naruto sent her at her lack of reaction and she also didn't see how he stuck his head out of the window to see if the sky was coming down. Sticking his head back in the classroom he still kept his wide-eyed look. Maybe it was Genjutsu? But who would make a Genjutsu where the people in it weren't even acting normally? That would just tip the victim off.

Or in Anko's words of wisdom, _"Pay attention to what the fuck's happening around you gaki, it might save your life once or twice." _Kami he loved that woman. She was the best teacher that he had ever had. But he hoped that his new teacher would be just as awesome, even though that was kind of hard to beat.

"Team 8 will be: Hinata Hyūga, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba." Wow that was a pretty solid team. They were all good trackers and were also decent fighters.

"Team 9 is still in circulation so Team 10 will be Naruto Uzumaki," His eyes twinkled and the wild grin was back, full on. He had been paying attention so he knew what was gonna come next, "Yamanaka Ino," Fuck yes." and Shikamaru Nara." That was absolutely cool with him. Yep, he was absolutely cool about this. As cool as a cucumber.

Mentally chibi-Naruto did a fist pump before dancing and he almost felt like doing the same.

He sent an almost crazy happy grin at Ino and she smiled back. He closed his eyes and snickered to himself to let out some of his excitement but because he did so he missed the lingering look Ino had (unknowingly) given him.

Well, looks like she had gotten her wish. She was in Naruto's team but Sakura was in Sasuke's... strangely enough that didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. As she looked at the snickering blond next to her she oddly felt content with how the teams had been chosen.

At least she wasn't in Kiba's team. He was too…_ wild_ for her. But then Naruto gave Sasuke a vicious grin which was responded with a stoic stare. She took that back, Naruto was pretty wild too but it was at least kind of controlled. But when she saw their last team-mate, Shikamaru, _literally _drag himself to their table she thought to herself…

'Maybe I'm not in the right team…?' before laughing weakly.

"So guys, this is it! We're a team from now on." Naruto started and Ino blinked. It seemed as if most people had gone to sit next to their team-mates. Kiba, Shino and Hinata were huddled in one corner talking to themselves, or more accurately, Kiba talking at them while they went along with them.

Near the front Sakura, Sasuke and Choji sat together talking. Again, more accurately, Sakura talking at Sasuke and occasionally talking to Choji.

Then she went back to her own team conversation and gave her input, "Alright then. We're gonna have to lay down some ground rules first…" Naruto sent an amused look at Shikamaru and the other boy groaned. This was going to be great…

* * *

Some Hours Later…

* * *

After they had been allowed the time to get acquainted with their team-mates they had a lunch break. Iruka-sensei had come back from his own break and with him so did some adults. They all wore Jōnin vests so everyone sat up straighter. There were various but only a few stuck out.

There was a laid back-looking guy with a senbon in mouth who had a bandanna style head band, another one had a cigarrete in his mouth, and however the most striking one was a woman. She had red eyes with red lipstick and purple eye liner. She wasn't dressed in a Jōnin vest, which was part of what made her the easiest to distinguish of the lot; instead she had a red dress with some bandages. (Ino had no idea how she kept that together but it didn't look like it was even gonna budge)

She glanced over for some reason at Naruto to see his reaction but besides the widening of his eyes and his eyebrows shooting up there was no inappropriate comment or anything which she was immediately grateful for. They wouldn't be off to a good start if she had to beat some manners into his head would they?

"Team 8," the woman spoke, "please follow me." She finished and Naruto could not fault Kiba for whispering something excitedly to Akamaru. Lucky dog…

"Team 10, come on." The smoking Jōnin said and their team got up, (Shikamaru did reluctantly and only because Ino had started tapping her foot on the floor) walking down the aisle she caught Sakura's eyes before turning around and following a physicked out Naruto, she shot another glare at a shuffling-his-feet-as-slowly-as-possible Shikamaru.

Their new sensei had lead them to a BBQ restaurant not too far from the academy, where they had settled in and now were waiting for their food stop grilling.

"So, first I think we should do some introductions. I'm Sarutobi Asuma and from today on I'll be your Jōnin instructor." He finished with a grin as he saw Naruto eyeing the pieces of meat hungrily, "How about you introduce yourselves? Just say your names, likes and dislikes, hobbies and dreams…" Then nodded his head at Ino and she smiled brightly.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino and I like learning my family techniques. I also like working in the flower shop my family owns…" She bit her lip here and continued on, "There's also someone I like. I _dislike fore-head _and lazy people." She shot a glare at Shikamaru which made him utter troublesome, "My hobbies are working in the flower shop and flower arranging. My dream is to maybe get a job in the T&I department." She finished satisfied, hoping that had been professional enough for her sensei. She didn't want to sound too girlish.

Asuma nodded at her introduction, satisfied. Then he gestured to Shikamaru because Naruto was still too busy drooling over the pieces of meat. He loved ramen, but he had to eat something more than just that. Otherwise he would have stayed a shrimp forever. There was no way anyone would recognize him if he was a shrimp.

"The name's Shikamaru Nara," He paused to yawn, intentionally ignoring Ino's glare, "I like cloud watching and dislike troublesome people," He carefully regarded Ino there, after all she could probably hit him from across the table, so he didn't say any names, "My hobbies are cloud watching and playing shogi with my old man. My dream's to become an average ninja, marry a girl who's not too beautiful or ugly and have 2 kids. Probably a boy and then a girl." He then sat back and gazed at the ceiling.

Naruto paused in his 'Meat watching' to give a deadpan look at Shikamaru. Did he actually mean that? How boring… Naruto was of the belief that you couldn't go about doing things half-assed. You either did it as good as possible, with all the effort and dedication possible, or you didn't do it at all. Nodding in satisfaction at his personal philosophy he then turned to their sensei, only to see that he had a sweat-drop at the back of his head. Looks like he agreed with him. Oh well, it was his turn now.

Naruto began without prompt but he didn't think that Asuma-sensei would mind, "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, BBQ, "a small snort from Asuma at that," and learning new things. Definitely new jutsu. I don't like moody people, or just assholes in general, "Ino's head snapped to him and her eyebrow twitched but he carried on, "My hobbies are hanging out with Anko and just generally annoying her. Although that can be dangerous…" Asuma nodded sagely at that and he assumed that he must have known her. Shrugging it off Naruto then grinned, "And my dream is to be the Hokage! One day I'll make everyone acknowledge Uzumaki Naruto!" He held his head up high and nodded as if he was confirming to everyone what he had just said.

Ino snorted softly before looking at him from the corner of her eyes, "You don't have to say it so loudly, baka. Now everyone's staring at us." She groaned. Most people actually were.

However Naruto didn't seem to mind it one bit and only sent them a grin. By this time their meal was done so they began to dig in after a quick Itadakimasu! "Now that we are done with the introductions I guess I should tell you that only 33% of the people who just left the academy will _actually_ become Genin. The rest will be sent back." And then they promptly spit their food back out (even Shikamaru)

"What?!" both Naruto and Ino shouted at the same while Shikamaru just muttered a 'Troublesome.' If Asuma didn't have to act serious about this then he would have laughed out loud. They had been in perfect synchronization.

"That's right. I'll be waiting outside when you're finished so I can tell you more about it." Ignoring his slacked jawed students (well… two of them more accurately) he stepped away from their table, leaving a few ryo in order to pay for the meal. Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru stayed absolutely silent. An aura of gloom had risen above them and they contemplated their sensei's words. Only 33% of Genin would _actually _be Genin? Man…

Naruto looked at both of his team-mates, comrades and from now on _friends._ Then he smirked. Putting one hand forward with a closed fist and spoke out loud.

"That just means we're gonna be part of that 33%, doesn't it?" Shikamaru and Ino blinked and then Ino smirked back, before putting her own fist forward, bumping with Naruto's.

"Of course we are." She sent a glare at Shikamaru as if daring to him to contradict her. Sighing he made his input.

"My mom would never stop nagging me if I didn't pass and got sent back to the academy, so as troublesome as this might be I guess I've got no choice." He lazily bumped his own fist with theirs and smirked. Nodding to each other they got up as one and walked outside to find their sensei. They were most definitely not going back to the academy.

They stepped outside with determined faces and Asuma seemed to nod to himself before making them follow him. He would tell them at the training ground, that way so he could enjoy their expressions.

* * *

Training Ground Ten.

* * *

Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino sat in an almost huddle. In front of them Asuma was currently smoking a cigarette, which made Ino crinkle her nose but she didn't say anything.

"The reason that only 33% become Genin is because their Jōnin instructors administer a test in which if you pass you get to stay but if you fail you have to go back to the academy."

"But we already graduated from that place. How come we have to pass another test?" Ino protested. She was already determined to pass whatever test it was but she was still curious. Why _did _only a third of the graduates become actual Genin? "Why do only a third of the graduates become Genin sensei? Wouldn't that be a waste of resources?" Naruto was curious too apparently and he was obviously less tactful than Ino.

"Anyone with half a brain can do the basic three jutsus. The academy exam was test if you had the all the basic knowledge. The test from your Jōnin instructor is to see if you can put that knowledge to practical use." Ah, so that was it. They were to weed out any people who didn't have enough practical skills and who couldn't use the knowledge they had gained in the academy.

"With that said, let's get to that test shall we?" Asuma put his cigarette in his mouth, lips closing tightly to hold it firmly. Naruto's eyes narrowed before he hauled Ino and Shikamaru to their feet, grabbing them and jumping back to get some space in between them. Asuma nodded at him slightly, "Good instincts, Naruto."

"What does he mean?" Ino asked him but Shikamaru answered her, "He means that we're about to fight." Her eyes widened slightly before she took a glance at Naruto to see that he still had his eyes glued onto Asuma. Nodding slightly she got into a ready stance, her hands raised up in case she would need to engage in physical combat or use a technique.

Shikamaru took his hands out of his pocket and his expression tightened. Naruto however took a red nunchaku from his pouch and began swinging it slightly before assembling it into a staff and getting into his own stance.

Asuma grinned at that and barked, "Start!"


	3. Unexpected Rivalry

AN: So... I'm so sorry! I know that it's been months but I just... got stuck with this. Idk, I could think of other stories and even started them but I just couldn't write something that was of satisfactory quality for this chapter. I still think that what I'm submitting is sub-par but whatever; it's better than nothing.

So here it is Chapter 3 of Change.

* * *

Asuma got a kunai out and settled into a defensive stance. He wanted to test their offensive capabilities first. After all he didn't want to exhaust them before testing how well they defended; that would be stupid. He was only testing them after all.

Naruto seeing this did something a bit unexpected; he put his staff between his teeth, grabbed both of his teammates and jumped back into the forest behind them. After landing in a clearing a little away from Asuma he turned to both his teammates. "The hell Naruto? Why did you drag us away like that?!" Ino shouted at him. Weren't they supposed to fight Asuma?

"Wait Ino. Asuma-sensei is a Jōnin. There's no way we can fight him just like that without a plan. Besides this is clearly a test. Which means that he might be testing our skills to plan and work together too." Shikamaru nodded at his logic.

"He's right Ino. We need to think carefully about this." Ino looked at both of her teammates. They were right; she needed to calm down.

"So… what are we gonna do?" Shikamaru sighed before putting his hands into a strange sign. It wasn't a hand seal; just something that helped him concentrate and think about situations more clearly. After sitting like that for a few minutes he opened his eyes and addressed them, "Alright, first things first; Naruto, what can you do…?" Naruto grinned. Yup, his team was pretty awesome.

* * *

Back in the clearing that Team Ten had been sitting at Asuma frowned. It had been a few minutes already since they jumped into the trees. At first he had been surprised but then pleased. At least they weren't going to fight him straight on without having some sort of plan first. He waited for a few more minutes before hearing some shuffling in the bushes to his right.

Bringing his kunai out again, he was just in time to deflect a few shuriken that had flown out of it. He frowned at this tactic; they didn't expect him to get caught off guard like that did they? But as he was deflecting the shuriken a shadow was weaving its' way towards him before it leaped towards him, from his right. Asuma leaped away and while he was mid-air more shuriken came towards him. Snorting at their tactic he was about to deflect them when someone called out, "Fūton: Reppūshō." and the shuriken sped up immensely, becoming blurs to the untrained eye.

But Asuma was far from untrained which was exactly why when they were coming towards him he kawarimed away from them, the shuriken shredding the log he had switched with. That had been mildly dangerous; if he was a Chūnin he might not have been able to dodge it – no wonder Naruto had been able to defeat Mizuki a few days prior, the kid was Chūnin material already.

Suddenly a smoke bomb exploded in the vicinity that he had jumped to. He jumped out with Naruto at his heels. Naruto spun the staff before swinging it Asuma, from his right to his left forcing his sensei-to-be to block it with the kunai in his hands, then he broke up his staff into its nunchaku form which wrapped around the kunai and his fist while still airborne. A small smirk was weaved into his face when Asuma heard the cry of, "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" He smirked, he was mid-air and while he could've tried to use Kawarimi, it wouldn't have worked because Naruto was holding onto him – he couldn't Kawarimi both of them as that took a small amount of time and he couldn't just move out of the way because he was mid-air.

'Asuma' and Naruto landed on the ground Naruto still holding onto his kunai and wrist. "Ino are you there?" Ino in Asuma's body grinned, which looked really out of place, before she pouted at Naruto (Again it looked _really out of place_) "Mou, you can let go now Naruto; your grip is really tight." Naruto nodded before he let go and immediately Shikamaru came into the clearing but before anything could be said he did his jutsu, "Kagemane no Jutsu." Ino in Asuma's body blinked, "S-Shikamaru…? What are you doing? I'm still in here and I need to do the seals to release it!" Naruto glanced at Shikamaru from the corner of his eyes before jumping back and away from both of them.

They began a three-way stare off until another Asuma came into the clearing, with Ino's body in his hands. "Well, this is unexpected; I thought you guys were working together…?" He looked at his students before Shikamaru responded, "Every man for _himself_, Asuma-sensei." Asuma frowned at him but before he could comment the 'Ino' in his hands exploded into smoke before the 'Ino' in 'Asuma's body' did her jutsu once again, "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Asuma only had time to widen his eyes before Ino took him over as the other Asuma exploded into smoke as well, disappearing. Naruto and Shikamaru grinned and Shikamaru did his jutsu for the last time, "Kagemane no Jutsu, _success._" Naruto smirked as Ino in Asuma's real body shot them a thumbs up.

* * *

_After the test…_

Later they had explained to him their plan. Naruto had suspected that Asuma might make a clone considering the fact that he was only testing them and using his chakra sensing ability he had confirmed it. When 'Asuma' had kawarimed away from the shuriken and hidden in the bushes, Naruto had managed to get close and after that he threw down a smoke bomb and had managed to kill Asuma's clone which had been a Tsuchi Bunshin.

Then he had made his own clone using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu which he knew. (Since yesterday as that had been what Anko had taught him last) The clone had Henge'd into Asuma and his signal to Ino was to smirk so she could do her jutsu. Ino had mind transferred but her body, which would've been left defenseless was taken away by other clones, which had stayed with her, one of them stayed and Henge'd itself into her as they had suspected that Asuma was just hiding and watching them.

Next Shikamaru had done the Kagemane Jutsu on Ino and binded her movements on purpose in order to create 'distrust' among the team and make Asuma come out, ready to scold them or even fail them. But that had been what they wanted. They couldn't come up with any other way to get him to come out of hiding unless they 'finished' the test which they assumed to be to defeat him. But Naruto hadn't been satisfied and had made up the next bit of 'the plan' which was to pretend that they were going to fight amongst each other. This would have the purpose of making Asuma come out carrying 'Ino's body', they had left her body in an obvious spot, and he would be intrigued at what would happen next.

Finally Ino had done the Shintenshin, which would surprise Asuma because he thought that she was binded by Shikamaru's shadow and finally capture him.

Asuma stared at his team with a blank look on his face as Naruto and Ino high-fived while Shikamaru smirked. They were sitting on a large log which had fallen down and was quite convenient as they could use it as a bench. Asuma was standing in front of them.

"Well…" He drawled out. That had certainly been _unexpected_. _'To think that he would've seen through my clone like that…' _Chūnin material indeed. And the rest of the plan had been spectacular – all the way down to how they had signaled to each other without words (which would've been obvious) and to how Naruto had created a double layered trap, or so he was supposed to think he had. Truly, they were brilliant. So there wasn't much to say really.

"I guess congratulations are in order… You guys pass." _'With flying colors.' _He added silently to himself. Chibi inner Asuma fist pumped at his luck; his team was _awesome_.

Naruto whopped and actually fist pumped while Ino hugged him. Hell yeah they passed, _they were awesome_. Shikamaru smirked but then he frowned, "Asuma-sensei…" He called out stopping Naruto's and Ino's celebration (They were now dancing around the clearing) "…How could we have failed? I mean, what were you judging in this test?" Asuma nodded at Shikamaru's question as Naruto and Ino came back and sat down again.

"Well firstly I wanted to test almost everything really, and the simplest way to do that was through combat. I wanted to see your physical abilities through attacking and defending and your mental capabilities through your ability to plan ahead."

"Needless to say; you definitely all pass in the latter, Shikamaru's plan was very good and Naruto's addition to it at the end was also excellent. Ino, your acting skills while in my body were very good too, you actually managed to fool me." He would never tell that to anyone else, wouldn't that be embarrassing?

Then he frowned, "I was only really able to test that because you guys caught me out," Then he smirked as Shikamaru groaned, Ino blinked and Naruto started stretching, "So now I'll test your physical capabilities." Ino gave him a dead panned look, "We passed right?" He nodded at his student. She nodded back before rounding on her feet, "So now I'm going to uhr… you know…" Naruto dead panned at her back as the whole clearing fell into silence.

Then Ino started sprinting away into the trees as Naruto jumped onto a tree branch and then away and Shikamaru was left standing there, staring at his sensei. Then a voice called out,"Shika! Make sure you push him a lot so we can find his weaknesses!" Another called out, "Ino, what the hell?! Don't yell that out, stupid!"

"Who the hell are you calling stupid, you jerk!" Shikamaru promptly face palmed and Asuma started laughing.

Yep, his team was pretty awesome.

* * *

_Hokage's office._

The Hokage sat watching the events that had transpired, along with quite a few Jōnin and Chūnin. Then he suddenly frowned; what were they doing here exactly? Oh, don't get him wrong; it wasn't that he minded but why had they come into his office originally? He looked up at everyone and they stared at him blankly. Anko who was in the front of the crowd ignored her Hokage and kept staring into his crystal ball. Kurenai, another Jōnin sensei, was next to her and nudged her lightly, making her look up at the Hokage's deadpan expression.

The office was thick with silence for a few seconds before Anko turned around with a puzzled expression, "What _are_ you guys doing here? Don't you have anything to better to do?!" The whole room, as one, stared at her ant they all thought the exact same thing. _'Aren't you the same?!' _Kurenai sighed at her friend. The Hokage cleared his throat and the whole room turned to him. "Anko is right, _partially_." He gave her an amused smile. Kurenai cleared her throat and said her piece, "I came to give you my report on how my team did, Hokage-sama." She smirked at the other people in the room; at least she had a legitimate reason for being here, no one else could say the same. Now that she thought about it most of the people who were there were also there when the scroll had been stolen and Naruto had beaten Mizuki.

Genma stepped forward and also said his piece, "Me too Hokage-sama." Looking at both Jōnin Anko snorted and bluntly put it, "Wanted to see how he'd do," She turned her head to the other occupants of the room, "Got a problem with that?" Everyone shook their heads at the same time. Then to most of the room's surprise Kakashi stepped forward, (where had he come from?) and commented next, "I haven't administered the Genin test yet so I came to see who else had passed." Hiruzen nodded at him, accepting his answer.

Then he stared at Iruka, prompting the man to cough into his hand lightly, before he gave his excuse, "I came to hand in some paperwork Hokage-sama…" He trailed off and glanced around nervously. Most people gave him puzzled looks, what paperwork? He didn't have anything in his hands and no one had seen him hand in anything either. Anko chuckled at him and Kurenai gave him a small smile. Kakashi eye-smiled and then went back to reading his book.

Before Iruka could defend his story the door to the room opened and Asuma came in, "Hello, Hokage-sama, I came to-"He abruptly stopped and stared at everyone else. Then he looked at the crystal ball that they were all huddled around. The Hokage swiped it from his desk in a blink of an eye and cleared his throat. Asuma stared at them for a few seconds before questioning, "…What are you all doing here, exactly…?" Anko gave him a nonchalant look before answering with the straightest face possible, "…We were watching Great Teacher Inuzuka." Asuma stared at them for with a dead panned look, before he abruptly turned around and slammed the door shut.

"…Great Teacher Inuzuka…?" Kurenai gave Anko an amused look, "You couldn't come up with anything better…?" Anko smiled at her brightly and the Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose while sighing. They were all idiots, the lot of them.

* * *

_Streets of Konoha._

Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino were walking around after they had a grueling long physical test with Asuma-sensei. The man had said that he would take them to the BBQ restaurant after he gave his report to the Hokage so now they were making their way to the same BBQ restaurant that they had visited earlier. It was almost dusk and they were all tired so he had offered them to treat them to dinner. Everyone had accepted of course, they were famished after their first training session. Naruto still thought that Anko was worse but that didn't mean that Asuma-sensei was a slacker. The guy was slave driver too. He didn't mind it much though. Looking to his teammates he could clearly tell that they didn't agree with him.

Ino was trudging through the streets; her sparkly green-blue eyes were dull with fatigue and Shikamaru would break into massive yawns almost every minute. He frowned at them; they were clearly out of shape. In his mind this was unacceptable; his team would be the best and they had to be in shape in order to be the best. So he begun a conversation, "Are you guys all right?" they both turned their heads to him, looking almost like zombies. He took a step back at them before continuing his train of speech.

"I didn't think you would be so tired after all that…" He trailed off as a look of rage came onto Ino's face, "Well excuse me, mister _rookie of the year_. Not everyone is _as good as you_, you know?!" Shikamaru snorted and looked up to the sky, meaning to ignore the argument that was surely going to break out. Naruto frowned at Ino, "That wasn't what I meant, you know…" Ino snorted at him and looked away.

Naruto sighed at her bad mood. It hadn't been that grueling had it? He was about to speak again when he spotted Team Eight down the street. Blinking he called out to them, "Hey, dog-breath!" Kiba abruptly turned around with a look of rage until he saw Naruto and his two zombie-like teammates. He snorted at them but stopped to wait for them. Hinata looked at Naruto shyly and fidgeted with her coat while Shino pushed his sunglasses up his face.

Team Ten quickly caught up to them and they began walking together as a group.

"So what are you guys doing around here?" Kiba questioned them. Naruto answered him, "We're going to eat BBQ. Our sensei is gonna treat us." Kiba grinned at them, "So you guys passed huh..?" Naruto only gave him an incredulous look, "Of course we passed you idiot." He nudged Ino and a small smile came onto her face, "Yeah, after all _I'm_ here." She stuck her nose up in the air and Shikamaru muttered something under his breath, probably 'Troublesome' Naruto gave Ino an amused smile and thought to himself _'At least she isn't in a bad mood anymore.' _Thank god for that. A frown just looked wrong on her cute face. There should always be a smile there.

Kiba snorted them before humoring her, "Of course…" Then he held his own nose in the air and grinned cockily, "Well I'll have you know that we passed too." Akamaru yipped from the top of his head and he continued, "With flying colors too." Kiba nodded to himself and Naruto glanced at both of his teammates. Shino pushed up his glasses and commented, "Our test was to track down and corner our sensei." Naruto made an 'Ah!' noise in understanding. No wonder they had passed, each of their abilities were practically made for that purpose, to track and find people.

Ino then turned to Hinata and began talking to her, "You must've been really useful huh, Hinata?" Said girl nodded hesitantly before poking her index fingers into each other and began glancing at Naruto nervously, which Ino didn't miss. She frowned lightly, what was the deal with her? She then looked at Naruto who was walking with Kiba at the front of their group, talking to each other loudly and boisterously. She let her eyes wander around his body before going to his face and then to his eyes. They were full of life and excitement as Kiba recalled his team's test and Naruto told him how they had done. She blinked before glancing at Hinata, who was doing something similar. Ino dragged her eyes away from both of them and looked forwards; down the street. _'Hinata…' _

Her eyes narrowed slightly, now that she thought about it Hinata had always been weird around Naruto, and had always blushed and acted shyly. _'Ah, so that's it.' _In her moment of clarity, as she figured out that Hinata liked Naruto a strange feeling came over her. She sent a discreet glance at Hinata and then at Naruto, before her eyes hardened.

It was on.

Ino slid next to Naruto and began chatting to him, and as she did she put an arm around Naruto's, when he wasn't looking, and she gave a cheeky grin to Hinata. Hinata's eyes narrowed before the veins started bulging slightly. Kiba who had seen this began edging away from them and stepped next to Shino and Shikamaru. "Uhm…" Shino pushed up his glasses and Shikamaru quickly caught up onto the whole story making him sigh. How troublesome. Hinata walked forward quickly and surprisingly joined the conversation. Ino continued on the conversation without so much as a pause but as they walked they both gave each other overly sweet smiles. The boys behind them could pretty much hear their thoughts.

'_You better back off you bitch!'_ Shikamaru yawned before a small smirk came onto his face; this could prove to be entertaining if he let it run its course. Naruto sweat dropped at Hinata's and Ino's 'smiles.' Chibi inner Naruto held his head in panic. _'I'm gonna get killed! If I even say a thing I'll get killed! It doesn't even matter that I don't know what's happening; I'll die at this rate!' _Then the Chibi Naruto held up his hands in prayer, _'please kami-sama! Save. Me!'_

As if hearing his prayers Asuma arrived in front of them and he gave the man a thankful look. His sensei raised an eyebrow before chuckling at his predicament. "Hey team, I see you got some company." He shot Naruto an amused smile and Naruto almost glared at him, if he wasn't the man with the power to save him right now he would've given him a murderous look.

"H-Hey sensei. So let's go get some BBQ!" he finished enthusiastically before untangling himself from Ino and hopping next to his sensei. Asuma nodded in agreement and Naruto continued, "Well-it-was-really-nice-to-see-you-guys-but-we're-gonna-have-to-go-now – bye-bye!" Naruto literally grabbed Ino and Shikamaru and began dragging them down the street, missing Ino stick out her tongue at Hinata and the dark glare the pale eyed Hyūga gave her. But then he was stopped in his tracks as the sensei of Team Eight stood in front of them. Chibi Naruto let crocodile tears run down his face, he had been so _close_.

"Now, now Naruto. I think that BBQ doesn't sound all that bad. What do you say team?" Kurenai gave her Genin a small smile and winked at Hinata. Hinata smiled at her mother figure and then turned it to her… _rival_. Ino gave her a glare and huffed at Kurenai-sensei. Shikamaru smirked and barely contained his snickers. Asuma was about to come to Naruto's backing when Kurenai gave him a gentle smile, "What do you say, Asuma-_sensei_?" Asuma froze at the tone. He turned to Naruto and gave him an apologetic smile. _'Sorry kid, but there's something's a man can't say no to.' _Naruto gave an outraged look at Asuma, who had betrayed him. Shikamaru did let some snickers through and Kiba whispered something to his puppy before he made 'Kwitch!' sound, his hands going back and forth like a whip.

Kurenai's gentle smile turned to Kiba and he froze in place. "Kiba… let's go." Kiba nodded rapidly, his head bobbing forwards and backwards, almost desperately. No wonder Asuma-sensei couldn't stand his ground. There was just something about that smile that made you want to keep her smiling because if she could be scary already with a smile then Kiba didn't even want to wander how scary she could be when she stopped smiling. Kiba stepped next to Asuma and both of them put a hand on Naruto's shoulders before they gave him a solemn thumbs up. Naruto glared at them as his eyebrows twitched in rage. These bastards… he gave them a sadistic grin and they both flinched, he was gonna get them. Oh it might not be now but he was going to.

After all, there are _so many ways to go around doing that._

* * *

_BBQ Restaurant._

Naruto sat with Ino to one side and Hinata to the other which surprised Kurenai at first. But then she concluded, after observing both Ino's and Hinata's actions, that Hinata seemed to have gained a confidence boost from having Ino so close to Naruto. Kurenai thought carefully about this. _'She seems to like him and Ino seems to feel the same. That's why they are both watching each other like hawks.'_ She then gave the boy an apologetic look, perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to back Hinata up like that? Naruto looked as if he would slash someone's throat if they so much as made a comment and considering the fact that Kiba was _constantly _grinning at the boy she kinda of feared for her student's safety a little. She couldn't very well take her team and leave; that would upset Hinata and she couldn't just make her switch places so at the very least she decided to start a conversation so that it wouldn't be so awkward at that side of the table.

"So Team Ten." Seeing that she had their attention she continued, "You passed Asuma's test hm?" Naruto nodded and seeing an opportunity to break the silence he fanned the conversation on, "Yeah! We kicked some ass." Kurenai gave an amused smile to Asuma and he grunted. Then Naruto began recounting his team's performance, although to his dismay Kurenai wasn't really listening as she had already seen what had happened. At least she continued on, "Hm… My team passed as well. I guess the only team left is Kakashi's." Asuma snorted at that and Naruto gave the both of them a confused look. Ino picked up where they left off, "Kakashi…?" Asuma nodded at his student and began explaining, "Kakashi Hatake, he's another Jōnin who got a team today. I think his team was Team Seven, right?" He addressed Kurenai at the end and she nodded in confirmation. "Yes, however…" She trailed off and all the Genin looked at her expectantly.

"He's never passed a team before, even though he already took more than Ten Genin 'teams' to test them." Ino and Naruto both gawked at them. "Eh?!" Shikamaru cleaned his ears out but even he was paying attention now; Choji was on that team. Man… he kind of wished he could be there to back up his big boned friend. Ino thought back to Sakura and Sasuke. She frowned when she couldn't really bring herself to worry sick over how Sasuke was going to do. Naruto and Sasuke were both strong and Sasuke also had Choji on his team; there was no way he was going to fail. That meant that forehead was also going to pass. She sighed melodramatically, it couldn't be helped she guessed.

Naruto put his hand on his chin and thought. This Kakashi person had never passed _anyone_? Well… he kinda wished he would be on his team now to break that record. But oh well; Sasuke was far from weak (even if he was a prick), Sakura was far from stupid, (even if she was slightly crazy) and Choji was also quite capable. They would be alright. Kurenai broke through the sudden silence and commented, "Kakashi told me that he hadn't even given them his test yet." Asuma smirked; the Jōnin was probably so lazy that he had told them to wait until tomorrow. It was also a good tactic though, he let them mull over the fact that only 33% passed over the night. That tactic wouldn't affect Sasuke so much but it sure would affect both Choji and Sakura. He had also told them not to eat breakfast; something that would devastate the Akimichi on his team. Damn, that guy was as cold as ice wasn't he?

"Whatever," Kiba began and ignored Ino's light glare, "We passed so we got nothing to worry about, right Akamaru?" His puppy yipped in agreement and Kiba nodded back. If Akamaru agreed then that meant that he was absolutely right. Naruto snorted at master and puppy before going back to waiting for his BBQ. Surprisingly it was Shikamaru that talked next, "Asuma-sensei, what kind of missions will we be doing tomorrow?" Asuma grunted at him before answering, "Mostly D-Ranks." He already had a mission in mind that considering his team's abilities would be perfect for them. That didn't mean that they would enjoy it; he suspected quite the opposite in fact. Shikamaru frowned as his sensei chuckled to himself. That didn't bode well for him and for his cloud-watching time.

Their food finally arrived and the group sat and talked to each other (mostly the Genin) as they ate. After they finished their meals each sensei had dismissed their respective team and Asuma and Kurenai walked along the village in silence until Asuma spoke, "So… what do you think?" Kurenai sighed as she immediately knew what he was talking about.

"He's… different than I imagined. Hinata has a crush on him." Asuma nodded in recognition; it was hard to miss that. "But still…" She trailed off and Asuma looked at her intently, "He's an all right kid." Asuma puffed out a cloud of smoke, masking it as a sigh of relief. Kurenai had lost her father to the Kyūbi attack 13 years ago and he feared that she would resent Naruto for being the host. He was glad that she didn't although he knew that she could mask her emotions very well. _'Besides,' _He thought to himself, _'Anko and Kurenai are friends and Anko practically adores the kid, maybe I worried for nothing.' _ Kurenai hummed to herself, Uzumaki Naruto was interesting indeed. She had seen what he had been able to do to Mizuki so it was no surprise that he passed Asuma's test but… it wasn't just his strength. It was something else; she guessed you could almost call it the beginnings of charisma.

She smirked, no wonder Anko practically loved the kid and had no doubt in her mind that he was nothing like the Kyūbi; he was too goofy, but at the same time quite capable, to be anything but an excited academy graduate just turned Genin. _'And by the looks of it…' _She trailed off as she thought to all the people that had come to watch his Genin test, _'People are beginning to realize that too.'  
_

* * *

Naruto walked home with Ino next to him. After they had gotten dismissed Shikamaru had gone home which was away from their houses, and so had Kiba, Shino and Hinata so now it was only him and her.

'_Damn it Naruto! Think of something!' _There was silence as they walked next to each other. He didn't want to part ways with nothing but a 'Goodnight and see you tomorrow.' He would be feeling lame for the rest of the day.

"Naruto…" To his surprise Ino started. She looked at him and he stared back. Then she quickly looked away, "Well… this is where we part ways." Naruto looked up and saw that he was in front of the Yamanaka Flower Store. He froze. _'Fuck! We're already here!' _Naruto swallowed nervously before he glanced at Ino. Then he was stunned when she gave him a quick hug before dashing inside and slamming the door behind her. Naruto stared at the door with a blank look on his face before he fist pumped and whopped, jumping away from her house.

'_Hell yeah baby!' _Ino snorted as she heard her teammate whoop from outside. She didn't know what had come over her these past couple of hours bur Ino was a gut person. She did things that she felt needed to be done and she felt that her little _fight _against Hinata was definitely necessary. The hug though... Oh well – it had felt good to hug Naruto so she wasn't going to regret it. Chibi Ino reminded her that she was supposed to be in love with Sasuke though. Frowning Ino walked past the shop and went upstairs to her room. Now that she was Genin her parents had made her live and take care of the shop; which was totally unfair because Shikamaru still lived with his parents in the clan compound, but she couldn't really complain now. She had the whole house to herself so it was kind of nice. Especially now since she needed to think about things and be alone.

Unknown to Naruto and Ino two pair of eyes had followed him as he jumped away. Both were pupil less but one was light brown while the other was pale lavender. The person with the second pair almost growled while the other woman grinned. She was going to have _so much fun_ when she told Inoichi about this. Anko jumped away while cackling; tomorrow was going to be so much _fun_!

* * *

AN: Yeah, so that was it. Not much I admit but I really needed to release a chapter lest people begin thinking that the story was dead. I barely even hit my 5,000 word mark for this (not including ANs) Anyways next chapter will be missions as well as confrontations with Inoichi (lol that's gonna be a blast to write)

I've never written an overprotective dad but it'll still be fun. See ya later!

Jutsu List:

Kagemane no Jutsu: Shadow Imitation Technique. User controls and sends his own shadow to capture the opponent's. Once their shadows are linked the user has control over the enemy's body. Nara Clan Jutsu.

Shintenshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Switch. User sends his mind (Consciousness) into his victim in order to take control of the opponents body. If it misses the user will be knocked out until his/her mind comes back to his/her body. If it works then the user's body will slump over and be prone to attacks. Yamanaka Clan Jutsu.

Fūton: Reppūshō. A simple technique that when the users hands are clapped together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale. Very deadly when used in conjunction with projectiles as their speed, and ability to wound and kill are all increased several times.

By the way the Great Teacher Inuzuka is a spoof of an actual manga/anime/Japanese drama. Try to guess the name of the actual series in the reviews Ok?


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